YOU SAID IT! Big noise over big build disturbances

READ THE COLUMN

Mark Kane

Another excuse for dole bludgers to never work.

Michael Scomazzon

There’s that much rainforest between the coast and the head waters of the Daintree, it won't make a difference. The thin corridor between julatten and Kuranda,is were they should concentrate their efforts if they are trying to protect the biodiversity of the Greater Daintree National Park.

Rob Davis

Well Laurie, you pen an interesting piece, very fashionable I note, in the big argument of whether to replant or to crop/graze. Even 20 years ago, there was a very dubious commercial undertone in the money being made out of the "reafforestation " industry.

It's not cheap replanting forest in the plant and de-weed business..., ask Annie. it cost hundreds of thousands over time, for small areas, but if you just leave it to nature, you get a similar result but over a longer timespan.

It's an interesting debate, where urban green guilt rules the roost. I detect things are changing. For example, every second tourist island had a turtle hatchery years ago..., a feel good thing but there are dozens of semi abandoned tourist turtle hatcheries as they failed.

Now the trend is to make wire cages to regrow coral, where tourism smashed the original pristine coral. There was an interesting comment in this thread saying it's time emphasis went to corridors like that between Julatten and Kuranda that spiked my attention. As to whether it's worth squillions to buy back that lowland cattle property just across the ferry is an interesting debate in this current time. Would the money be best spent elsewhere?

Sadly the old green politics of years ago, led by those who simply loved nature, has been hijacked by guilt ridden, concrete dwellers for the inner city who think de-industrialising Australia will save the planet. If Australia was 100% Net Zero....the theoretical effect on the temperature would be 1 one hundredth of 1 degree C. Welcome to the new world of environmental motive driven by urban guilt.

Alex Horstmann

While the merits of broad scale conversion of productive farmland may be questionable, restoring high conservation value land that adjoins or connects other forests, regardless of its zoning, has an important role to play in today's landscape.

Beau Scomazzon

Yes revegetation of areas is important. However groups like Rainforest Rescue that are now targeting land that is zoned for agricultural use in the Douglas Shire is a joke. If the DSC approves Rainforest Rescue’s current development application for the change of use of nearly 450HA of agricultural zoned land out Daintree to permit it to be revegitated back to rainforest then we are on slippery slope in the Douglas Shire as this will set the precedent. And at what cost in the future to the businesses in our community? Turning agricultural land back into rainforest does not create jobs for our broader community It steals possibilities from future generations.

Wayne Branden

Cassowaries are in trouble at Mission Beach and Kuranda. I fully support efforts to plant trees on degraded blocks purchased for conservation in the Daintree, north of the river to restore cassowary habitat.

For conservation purposes it is far better to restore existing forest that is connected to national park, than to be planting trees in sugar cane paddocks. Cassowaries need connected forest with a diversity of mature fruiting trees. Some tree species may take several decades before they begin fruiting reliably. I do not support efforts to plant trees on good agricultural land south of the river.

Those organisations pretending to 'Save the Daintree' by planting trees in sugar cane paddocks are quite frankly scamming their supporters. Planting trees to prevent climate change is wishful thinking but ineffective because there is not enough land available to offset total global emissions and because tree planting can not keep up with deforestation.

In my personal opinion, planting by Daintree Life at Newell is a scam. If the site is next to a mangrove swamp then even by the ipccs very conservative estimates it will be under water by the end of the century due to rising sea levels. You only have to walk along the Cape Kimberley beach seeing all the dead Beach Calophyllum trees to know that planting trees just above sea level will do nothing to prevent future sea level rise.