“Southern Launch has previously assured the general public that there would be minimal disturbance to birdlife beyond a “startled response”, where birds left the area during launch noises but returned soon afterwards.”
This style of minimising the harm is typical of an impact assessment, where proponents make the case for development. In reality these sensitive, shy birds will most likely leave their nests and not find their way back in time to keep their eggs viable.
During nesting season at night when the endangered emu-wrens are sleeping, if they leave their nests and eggs, what is the likelihood of them flying back in the dark?
Page 111 of the Assessment report explains how frequently these terrifying launch noises may occur.
Rocket launches can occur every 24 hours during nesting season at night while the birds are sleeping.
The proposal has the potential to disturb fauna, nearby residents and visitors to the locality through the creation of noise and vibration impacts during construction and operation. In particular, each rocket launch event would produce a moderate level of operational noise over several weeks and a high level of noise for a very brief period during the launch itself. Noise impacts from rocket testing would also occur over a brief period. Vibration effects during a launch would be confined to within the launch pad. At the maximum operating scenario, the proposed facility will host in the vicinity of 36 yearly launches (one every 2-3 weeks on average), with a rocket launched at any time over a 24-hour period.
The same article mentioned above by the ABC claims:
“Conservationists are concerned the launches will endanger 12 bird species, including the endangered southern emu wren, whose population stands at fewer than 750. “
My question for Tanya Plibersek, the federal environment minister who approved this project, have you ever observed birds startle at night? And do you sincerely believe these birds would find their way to their safe perches and nests every time?
Mallee emu-wren Lino and woodblock print by Joanna Bradley
Woronora hill in Heathcote National Park at 282m above sea level is the highest natural point in metropolitan Sydney. The Blue Mountains to the west are most imposing but equal elevation occurs on the gently rising Woronora Plateau in the south that lead to the Southern Highlands and 1000 square kilometres of untouched bushland, including the Special Areas set aside for water collection. The city of 5.3 million people sits inside a larger geological basin and this basin contains enough unique biodiversity to have been defined as the Sydney basin bioregion.
One species that is found only in the rocky bushland slopes of Sydney is the critically endangered broad-headed snake, an animal exquisitely adapted to the particular niche it inhabits. This snake is found on the relatively wet west facing slopes of the basin where solar radiation stores heat to assist nocturnal hunting and hatching of eggs. The snake lives on the geckos and other creatures also thriving on the particular conditions of the west facing slopes.
Contour map of Sydney basin
Geology of Sydney Basin
The Sydney Basin is a sedimentary basin with an area of approximately 44,000 square kilometres. It is defined by the great diving range in the west and the ocean escarpment in the east. The defining geology extends to the Hunter Valley in the north and south to Batemans Bay.
Around 5,000 metres (16,000 ft) thick, the Sydney Basin consists of Permian and Triassicsedimentary rocks… and contains economically significant reserves of coal.
During Gondawana times, about 250 million years ago the sandstone in Sydney Basin was deposited by monolithic rivers flowing from the south west to the east.
50 million years later (200 mya) the Lapstone fault (running north south at the foot hills of the blue mountains) caused a lift in the sandstone in the east defining Sydney’s sandstone coastline, the flattened Cumberland plains and lifted the great diving range – including the Blue Mountains.
Three Sisters at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains
Fast forward another 100 million years (100 mya) and the first snake fossils appear in tropical Asia .
Fast forward another 40 million years (60 mya) and Gondawana breaks up, Australia becomes a continent and the Sydney basin is then shaped …
into a landscape that was defined by bedrock valleys exposed into a raised plateau. Sydney’s largest rivers, such as the Hawkesbury, Parramatta, Georges and Hacking Rivers eroded the region’s deepest valleys. In this period, the Ashfield Shale got weathered to create a flatter landform with low, undulating topography and reasonably fertile soils, which heavily contrasted the plateaus, cliffs and gorges on the sandstone areas in the Sydney Region. The Botany Bay Basin was also developed at that time, which is infilled with sand.
At the same time Sydney Basin is forming (60 mya) the first fossil records of elapid snakes emerge in tropical Asia. Around 24 mya elapids made the journey to Australia. Elapid snakes are in the cobra snake family and have permanently erect fangs, which may also deliver venom. Many species can deliver a bite potentially deadly to humans (and dogs), but most are effectively harmless given the availability of anti-venom. Recorded snakebites exceed deaths by a hundredfold. There are 1 to 4 snakebite deaths per year in Australia, most are from handling or cornering the snakes.
There are around 80 species of Australian elapid snakes, including: death adder, red-bellied black snake, tiger snake, duggite, mulga snake, brown snake, yellow-faced whip snake, copperhead, golden -crowned snake, and mustard-bellied snake.
Broad-headed snake
Photo of Broad-headed snake on a tree in Heathcote National Park 2021 Tom Kristensen
The critically endangered Hoplocephalusbungaroides, broad-headed snake is a venomous snake from the elapidae family. Broad-headed snakes are possibly Australia’s most endangered snake given their dependence on the unique geology of specific sites in the sydney basin. Once relatively common, the BHS is now locally extinct in metropolitan Sydney and only found in a few of the National parks and state forests within the Sydney basin.
Unlike most elapids the BHS are at home in the trees. When the rocky outcrops become too hot in the summer the snakes will disperse into gullies where they seek refuge in hollow tree limbs. Being nocturnal ambush predators, they pick up geckos on the rocks and a wider array of prey found in the forest and leaf litter on the forest floor. Seasonal behaviour patterns over a long life span find the BHS returning to the same outcrops and hiding holes year on year.
Besides the favourable western-tilted geology the Sydney basin has produced a network of upland hanging swamps. These impermeable depression on sandstone benches offer a place for the development of peat swamps supporting dense low vegetation with ponding water. These swamps store and release water through dry periods providing an oasis to a wide range of animals, including frogs, another staple food for BHS. These biodiversity gems are destroyed by the longwall coal mining that fractures the entire geology overlying the coal seams. Unfortunately the location of the swamps within the protected Special Areas has meant that their destruction has gone largely unnoticed.
Technical Report 2: Upland swamp development and erosion on the Woronora Plateau during the Holocene Kerrie M. Tomkins and Geoff S. Humphreys Macquarie University
Slow to mature, slow to reproduce, and confined to western slopes living under the flat sandstone rocks prized by landscapers, BHS are not able to adapt to human impacts on their environment. Being a small snake under a metre in length, and very attractively marked the BHS are poached from reserves and sold to collectors. Basking snakes are also commonly squashed on the proliferating mountain bike trails as national parks are increasingly managed as a recreational resource.
BHS give birth to live young unlike other elapid snakes that lay eggs. Presumably there is an advantage for baby BH snakes to be able to hide in rocks as soon as they are born.
If you come across a pretty yellow and black patterned snake in Sydney it’s most likely to be a carpet diamond python – the southern most and highest altitude occuring carpet python. While from an entirely different snake family to elapids, diamond pythons and broad-headed snakes look very similar to the untrained eye.
Diamond python Royal National Park 2025Diamond python Royal National Park 2025
Golden-crowned snake, a small Australian elapid snake on the road at dusk, just missed by the car.Red-bellied black snake (elapid)Mustard-bellied snake (elapid)Broad-headed snakeSydney Basin and Great dividing range (red)Distribution of broad-headed snakesGolden-crowned snake (off the road)Yellow-faced whipsnake (elapid) Broad-headed snake killed by bicyclePhoto of dead broad-headed snake on walking/cycling track Royal National Park by Abigail Bradley
Bush stone curlews are largely nocturnal with large eyes to assist a life in low light. They favour open areas to forage and nest. Eggs laid directly on the ground are vulnerable to being eaten by predators. Nesting parents can adopt a range of strategies to protect eggs, the bush stone curlew relies on camouflage, as the name suggests. It’s able to strike a pose like a statue, sometimes lying flat on the ground, neck extended, looking like a stone. The eyes are partially closed when the curlew is intent on blending in, but flutter wide open if detected, with eye contact maintained while the bird attempts to distract attention from the nest.
The eggs are also speckled to blend in with the leaf litter and go unnoticed.
If a person should come too close to nesting curlews they will attempt to lead them away from the nest by hissing, strutting and flapping around with raised wings. Naturally time off the nest is not good for the eggs and stressful, stone-curlews would prefer to remain on the eggs. Stone-curlews in repeated contact with people have been observed to allow closer intrusion towards the nest.
Bush stone-curlew numbers are under threat in NSW where they are declared endangered. Feral foxes make an easy meal of ground dwelling birds.
Tom Kristensen 2024 ǂ
Bush stone curlew mini print and 5 card pack
One hand made Japanese woodblock mini print on hand made washi paper. Plus 5 facsimile cards with message to politicians. 19 x 12.5cm
A$45.00
Bandicoots mini print and 5 card pack
One hand made Japanese woodblock mini print on hand made washi paper. Plus 5 facsimile cards with message to politicians. 19 x 12.5cm
Migrates in flocks following nectar flow in ironbark woodland.
Major threat – land clearing.
Warragamba Dam Raising Project Offset* prices exceeded capacity for government to pay. Solution; reclassify flooding of honeyeater habitat as a temporary impact
•Offsets are deals done to allow for Destruction of the environment
As of 10th July 2023 the species credit price for Regent Honeyeater is $4,308.00.
Tadashige Ono was born in 1909 near the end of the Meiji era; four decades of industrialisation and military expansion under the imperial eye of the emperor. Japanese military victory over China on the Korean Peninsula led to the Chinese revolution of 1911, overturning 2000 years of monarchy with the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Other revolutions in Russia and Germany saw the rise of more REDS.
Communist posters and pamphlets were illustrated with proletarian art, seemingly carved from wood with a pen knife. Woodblock art, historically dismissed as plebeian, was now authentically primitive. The young Ono entering art school was energetically criticising industrial development and capitalism, while leading fellow artists to mount group exhibitions and publish magazines. His early black and white work was crowded with figures; at work, on strike, partying. He produced a 50-page graphic novel illustrating “the death of three generations”, a pregnant mother is seen pushing a coal cart, then dying while giving birth in the mine. As his work became more colourful Ono depicted landscapes and village life; cats and birds predominate as silent witnesses while the people go about their daily lives. Scenic views of Japan and abroad combine with comments on pollution, wreckage and warfare. Ono was a respected scholar of prints and a bold innovator. He developed a technique enabling multicoloured prints to be made from a single block.
Champion of the Japanese print tradition, which had always produced affordable art for the masses, he worked in universities teaching the history of prints and passing on printmaking skills. Always producing prints at incredible speed, Qno encouraged others to join his print revolution. He mentored many important artists, including Kiyoshi Saito. Although a museum opened after his death in 1990, that museum has now sadly been deaccessioned, perhaps an indication of a lack of respect for a RED rabble rouser.
These 36 views are presented in the Sosaku Hanga tradition: self-carved and hand printed. This print was made from a Linoleum floor tile, Japanese gampi washi, and Royal Talens water-washable oils, and backed with Thai kozo chiri. The seal indicates the Double Dagger project; prints from collaborating artists on environmental themes: Australia is an island continent producing rivers of RED iron ore and black coal.
This print in answer to Ono’s Ume (fT:) – Sea 1959
Tom Kristensen
2024
Red Green Island by Tom Kristensen
Made in the style of Ono Tadashige on a single lino block.
25.5 x 20cm
Number 29 in Tom’s Green Island series, this print is about how increasing global temperature is changing to once very stable climates and locations.
A$150.00
Print by Tom KristensenBackingVerso of Red Green Island
Horseshoe crab: Family: Limulidae Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Merostomata (legs attached to mouth) Species: Limulus polyphemus. Status: Four very similar species endemic to Eastern Americas and the Indo-pacific. Two species vulnerable to extinction in 2016.
450 million years ago horseshoe crabs were almost identical to horseshoe crabs living today. They pre-date the emergence of the woody plants that formed coal beds. Their closest modern relatives are spiders and scorpions. They have 10 legs, blue copper-based blood and 10 sets of eyes – including 2 photoreceptors in their tail.
Harvested for fertiliser, fishing bait, and for biomedical bleeding.
For years, HC were unprotected, shovelled up by the dump-truck load, crushed, and spread to fertilise fields in Delaware US. They are now protected in New Jersey, so after 10-year maturation in the Atlantic off Delaware Bay horseshoe crabs return to the beaches to mate.
Their only defence is their strong shell. The stingless tail is used for navigation and balance, their eggs and hatchlings are essential food for migrating Red knots, another endangered species.
Horseshoe crab blood contains proteins that react to the presence of bacteria forming a protective gel. Most people will have benefited from horseshoe crabs because their blood is used by the biomedical industry to detect positive gram bacterial contamination in vaccines and IV drugs. One litre of blue blood was worth about $16000 USD in 2020, “one of the most expensive resources in the world”
A synthetic alternative has been available for many years but it is even more expensive than the crab blood because of the high profits available and a patent protecting intellectual property.
This Double Dagger lino and woodblock print was made by Joanna Bradley in collaboration with Tom Kristensen who carved the coloured background wood blocks and helped research.
This print is about how human greed and disregard can drive the most resilient and biologically perfect creatures to the brink.
Horseshoe crab blood harvest
By Tom Kristensen and Jo Bradley
4 shina woodblocks hand carved and 1 lino block hand carved. Hand printed on Japanese washi paper using a baren
Largest Australian owl, and one of top ten largest in the world, the powerful owl with a wingspan of 2m, lives in old forests with tall trees and hollows along the Australian eastern coast from South Queensland, through Victoria and up to 200km inland.
Powerful owls prey on tree-dwelling marsupials like possums, Joey koalas, and gliders.
Their range can include urban areas beside bushland. Soft repetitive 2 long note calls at night.
Australian owls do not have feathered ear tufts or horns on their heads and with smaller head size relative to body, powerful owls and their much smaller cousins, southern boobooks, are described as hawk-owls.
Powerful owls are threatened by habitat destruction and poison baits. They are classified as vulnerable to extinction.
Jo Bradley 2022
Powerful Owl Burnum Burnum Sanctuary Sutherland 2022 by Matilda Bradley
Powerful owl print
by Tom Kristensen and Jo Bradley
3 hand carved shina blocks and one hand carved lino block hand printed with baren.
25.5 x 20cm
Greater Gliders, like Koalas, eat a diet of eucalyptus leaves. They are nocturnal, they depend on old growth forest, and sleep about 21 hours per day.
To stay safe from predators, such as Powerful Owls and Eagles, Greater Gliders use up to 20 different tree hollows in their range for sleeping and hiding.
The Black summer of 2019 was devastating for Australian wildlife, severely impacting Greater Glider numbers. This species has now been declared endangered and is headed towards extinction.
Catastrophic fire cannot be prevented, however another major threat to Greater Gliders is logging. Some Eastern states in Australia have committed to ending old growth forest logging, however government employed, and tax payer subsidised loggers continue to tear down Greater Glider habitat – Just to make wood chips and pulp.
Lino block carving
Endangered greater glider lino and woodblock print
By Tom Kristensen and Joanna Bradley
25.5 x 20cm hand carved lino and cherry. Printed by hand with a baren onto Japanese/Thai washi paper (also hand made)
The Adélie penguin is a the smallest of the Antarctic penguins and the most numerous, being widely distributed around the fringe of the Antarctic continent, its conservation status is of least concern. However, life on the frozen continent depends on food produced in the Southern Ocean and climate change and fishing for krill are key threats to penguin survival. Australia is responsible for managing 42% of the Antarctic continent and the adjacent waters. Penguin conservation is a concern of the Australian government.
This woodblock print made in an edition of 100 on Awagami kozo using Holbein gauche colours. It’s traditional Chuban-sized; 25 x 19 cm. Signed and sealed with the double dagger. Available through Saru Gallery
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