The Camphor Trees of Bellingen

The camphor trees of Church Street, Bellingen are to be cut down. ”The war of the camphor laurels” has been causing local outrage for years. The large trees are throwing some shade on cafe visitors and motorists on a side road reducing the heat island effect.

In the collective imagination, the iconic ornamental giants are synonymous with ‘the beautiful pristine picturesque Bellinger valley’. Postcard-views show cow pastures framed by thick stands of camphor trees hugging the waterways.



For others they are an out of control invasive noxious weed that have reduced local biodiversity of the entire area. When bush regenerators eradicated camphor trees and planted endemic species, heritage enthusiasts sprang into action: “ In some cases, bollards were burned out and boundary chains cut to allow visitors to drive their vehicles onto the fragile banks, crushing native seedlings and causing erosion damage in the process.” (source)

In the social imaginary the introduced flora belongs to the foundation myth of the region. After white settlers cleared the biodiversity of the rainforest valley and replaced it with a pastoralist monoculture, the need for shade became apparent. The giant trees promised instant shade in the fertile flood plains for the British antipodeans and their cattle.

”Ruthless clearance of native vegetation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries created the desire to plant exotic trees such as Cinnamomum camphora in urban and rural settings for practical and aesthetic purposes… (The tree ) “was also highly esteemed for its ability to quickly provide shade for dairy cattle in the  denuded former-rainforest lands of sub-tropical north-eastern New South Wales…” ( B. J. Stubbs, 2012)

The Asian tree was intentionally introduced in 1822 as an ornamental tree for use in gardens and public parks. Additionally colonial Acclimatization Societies founded after 1860 aimed to ‘acclimatise’ the European settlers by introducing foreign flora and fauna. Botanic gardens aided in the human-mediated introduction and spread of the species.

Settlers longed for ornamentals “throughout the Australian colonies to enrich the Australian flora” (source).

The 19th Century ‘panacea’ became entirely out of control after the demise of the dairy industry. “It was generally recognised by the late 1990s that camphor laurel was well and truly out of control and had become a major environmental problem in parts of eastern Australia. This was a consequence of several decades of  landuse  change  accompanying  the  decline  of  dairy  farming,  and  the associated lessening of weed control on the former dairying lands… It  has spread uncontrollably  across  that  region,  competing  successfully  with  native  regrowth,  and  forming  veritable  forests  on  abandoned  pasture. “ ( B. J. Stubbs, 2012)

The neglected and degraded pastures were then bought up and planted with bamboo and other exotics, while the other invasive weed problem remained. Today the mainstream public and private ’solution’ to the river-hugging non-native species is pesticide. In the war on weeds all unwanted growth is doused with a glyphosate-based weed killer, a 'probable human carcinogen'. The new ‘panacea’ to get rid of the last/past folly.



"Inter-continental and inter-taxonomic variation can be largely attributed to the diaspora of European settlers in the nineteenth century and to the acceleration in trade in the twentieth century. " The European diaspora creates an "unprecedented intensity of human-mediated species exchange (which) leads to the homogenization of floras and faunas, re-defines the classical boundaries of biogeography and has far-reaching implications for native biota, ecosystem functioning, human health and economy...The pathways by which alien species are introduced into new areas are also changing rapidly, in particular through increased global trade, tourism, agriculture, horticulture, and the construction and formation (for example, through climate change) of new transportation corridors, such as the opening of the Arctic Ocean shipping routes.” (Source)



Cacti are the contemporary 'must have' 'must spread' alien species wave unleashed on the area.

Deregulation of biosecurity and the hunger for horticultural exotics prepare for the extinction of endemic biodiversity. “…There is an urgent need to implement more effective prevention policies at all scales, enforcing more stringent national and regional legislations, and developing more powerful international agreements.” (Source)



Back to the iconic heritage trees in Church St and the false dilemma in the collective imagination.

The street is the only shaded cafe strip in town where cars should go 10 km/h but 40 km/h is recommended. A giant car park come turning circle where motorists sit with their packs of dogs and blow exhaust fumes into each others' lungs.



The large camphors are caged in planter boxes. (bollards) The roots lifting the pavers have been lovingly smeared over with tar. Like many other mature trees (crammed in cement) in Bellingen they do not look healthy. Their branches are mutilated so not to interfere with dangling power lines and property.

On the opposite side of the cafe strip the toilet block is also set among large trees. Their root network is abused as an overcrowded car park. ‘Access’ to the amenities means dodging a lot of SUVs.



Chopping the giant weeds would liberate Church St. for more fossil fuel vehicles. More neatly paved impervious spaces for cars. A car-centric tabula rasa. In a town where nothing goes without fossil fuel mobility this is the most likely outcome. After the $836,175 chop all motorists, shade hugging or biodiversity loving will be able to park there at ease. Should anything crack though the cement - a good spray will help.

Walkable, car-free and livable environments are as yet unthinkable in this cultural artifact. People-centred public lounge rooms with street furniture, designed to ‘human scale’ with endemic tree shade coverage optimised and impervious surfaces eliminated to stem the uncanny anthropogenic heatwaves are in the realm of dreaming.




Sources and inspirations:
Brett J. Stubbs,  Saviour to Scourge: a history of the introduction and spread of the camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora) in eastern Australia , 2012 (pdf) (flipbook)

"No saturation in the accumulation of alien species worldwide" Nature Communications 8, Article number: 14435 (2017) doi:10.1038/ncomms14435
http://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms14435

Heritage trees are on the chopping block, The Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun, 13.02.2017

Bellingen Town Centre Beautification, create.bellingen.nsw.gov.au

Henri Lefebvre's The Production of Space, Donald Nicholson-Smith trans., Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Originally published 1974. 1991, (pdf)

John Urry, Consuming Places (1995), (pdf)

Global movements and funding cuts a threat to biosecurity in Australia, abc 02.2017

Review of Australia's Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity, IGAB, 12.2016 (pdf)

 The Cars and Trucks That Ate Bellingen 

Updates:
"Suitable replacement trees" will morphe into more car parking: “Affiliated works included formalising car parking and planting of replacement trees which occurred by way of community input via a working party." Bellingen Courier, 13.03.2017

A Meditation on 'Singing the Coast'

Inspiration:
The place

The book:
Singing The Coast, Margaret Somerville, Tony Perkins, Aboriginal Studies Press, 2010

The exhibition:
Saltwater Freshwater Arts Exhibition​, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery

Cacti and Succulents of the Bellingen Area

On a walk through Bellingen one can encounter cacti and succulents in cafes, shops, markets and community gardens. The spiny exotic plants are everywhere. They seem to be an expression of the fashionable Bellingen lifestyle. They are trendy and convenient as they require no care.

Residents and businesses rejecting their local environment make a clear statement with their decor: Wish I was somewhere else - far away from here.

The must-have plants are easy to name as 'cactus' or 'spiky plant', even for the botanically naive person.

”The interiors world has gone crazy over cactus plants!” "Succulents and cactuses with weird and wonderful leaves are “curated” in eclectic collections of pots, and terrariums are a thing." 

The pots grace the outdoor lounges of hipsters. For years now ‘spiky plants’ have showcased Sydney’s real estate. That Mediterranean-style feeling seems to sell. Interior gardens, green walls, rooftop/balconies and outdoor living rooms sprout a mono-culture of spiky things in planter rows. It is the botanic message of the ‘for sale sign’ or 'money dwells here'.

Dispersal by plant segment makes it a dream for the horticultural industry and customers. Once the thing has outgrown its pot it is time to 'set it free.' In the garden they become a serial drain blocker. On larger blocks the fossil fuel maintenance team tends to throw the cut offs into the edge of the bush.

Forgotten are the Prickly Pear Cacti hedges from South America that quickly overran many thousand acres of farmland. Today still mother of millions are poisoning cattle and succulents are poisoning children.

While some attempt to control weeds, others are disseminating invasive plants throughout the Valley. Limiting the trade in potentially invasive species is outright unthinkable.

Despite of being set in a rich Gumbaynggirr landscape of biodiversity both businesses and residents choose to populated the landscape with introduced and invasive cacti, succulents, agaves, bromeliads and bamboo, among other weeds.

While deforestation, rapid land clearing, shave the land of native vegetation and biodiversity, the Big Quarry exports more coal then ever before.



It almost seems that people have resigned themselves to climate inaction and are preparing their air conditioned dwellings for Death Valley like (56.7 °C) temperatures extremes. Ornamental flora from the desert of central Mexico or Arizona seems to be the appropriate setting for anticipating the climate catastrophe on the most arid continent.



Update:
"Bellingen registers its hottest day on record. Temperatures soared into the 40s as Bellingen went past its previous best to a top of 48.9 degrees just after 5pm according to Bellingen Weather’s station... in 60 years it has never been that hot." Bellingen Courier. 13.02.2017
NSW smashes February statewide heat records two days in a row SMH, 13.02.2017

Healthy Riverbanks Booklet: The Turtle, The Cattle and The Indian Myna

After the mass kill event in 2015 of the critically endangered Bellinger River Snapping Turtle, various authorities have now resorted to making information and activities available to property owners and other stakeholders in the catchment area.

The Bellinger River System Landholder Booklet (pdf) is also available in the dead tree version.

It seems that the introduced Indian Myna (pdf) is symbiotic with the cattle business and roads as they spread along with the precooked ungulates standing mostly without shade in severe heatwave conditions.

Meanwhile the drought continues...

Little Terns or Pigs Will Fly and Sawtell Dogs will be on a Leash

Where the coastal town of Sawtell meets the National Park, Little Terns have their breeding grounds. The endangered Little Terns (Sterna albifrons subsp sinensis) have been nesting in this area for a log time. They like to make beaches, sand spits and sand islands near rivers, creeks and coastal lakes and mouths of estuaries their homes. Every spring and summer the migratory seabirds have been raising their families along the Australian coastline.

“Little Tern nests are a simple scrape in the ground, sometimes lined with feathers and eggshells. The highly exposed hatchlings are very susceptible to predators from both introduced and native species, as well as disturbance from human activities.” (source)



"Nesting sites are usually located where humans swim, walk, exercise dogs, picnic and drive off-road vehicles. The mere presence of people on the beach may cause these terns to desert their eggs and eventually leave the colony altogether" (source)

Unchecked coastal urbanisation spreads 'the package' (McMansions, roads, multiple pets and lawns) into all 'scenic' coastal places. The sprawling want-to-be Sydney culture rejects the specificity of the local environment.

Not long ago there were 70 separate breeding colonies in NSW, but today there are only 15 sites left in NSW. (source) Roaming dogs and their lawless pet owners are one of the main threats to the continuing existence of the bird.

"It had also been disappointing to see the number of people taking dogs into the little tern breeding compound on Bongil Spit, south of Sawtell Headland….The locations where the little terns are nesting are clearly signposted and dogs are prohibited from entering national parks at all times due to the threat they pose to native animals...The law allowed for an immediate fine of $1500 and people found with dogs within the national park could expect an on-the-spot fine of $300." (source)

The forest of signs, the absence of enforcement and the paltry fine do not repel the enthusiasts of introduced canines from making the wildlife refuge a dog loo.

Rangers even have to expect aggressive responses from dog-walkers if they point out the law to pet owners. 'Dogs Breakfast' and appeals to the local population are there to 'raise awareness' of residents that have already 'voted with their feet' for pets. For birdwatchers or bushwalkers it seems outright dangerous to approach people that are wilfully breaking the law.

Images:
Sawtell, aerial photo
Little Terns, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Hawksbill turtle, Bonville Headland mural, Sawtell

Update:
A car drove through a seabird community, leaving injured and dead birds lying on the sand.  A "crested terns had to be euthanised by the vet because its wing had been smashed to pieces" Cars on Airforce Beach at Evans Head. 08022017

The Cars and Trucks That Ate Bellingen

Bellingen is a small town on Waterfall Way on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Waterfall Way runs east-west from the Pacific Highway to the New England Highway at Armidale.

The narrow little town is a 'drive through town'.  The vehicles of locals and out-of-towners scramble for spaces to park. Logging and quarry trucks aim to shoot through the town and Waterfall Way (WFW) delivering the 'vanishing forests' and mountain rocks to ever expanding coastal urbanisation hotspots.

The throughput rate of trucks through the narrow and busy main street and WFW is to be increased to 66 loaded trucks a day.

'The modification requests the daily limit of 20 loaded quarry trucks per day to be increased to a maximum of 66 loaded quarry trucks Monday to Friday and 36 loaded quarry trucks on Saturdays within the approved hours of operation (7.00am to 6.00pm Monday to Friday and 7.00am to 1.00pm Saturdays)." (source)



Crossing the main street is a risky challenge. The fumes and noise in town force users to shorten their visit and get things done as quickly as possible to avoid poisoning or becoming roadkill.

Strings of properties are on the market as WFW is becoming a small highway. Along the Pacific Highway 'Upgrade' many properties within a few kilometers are for sale as it seems to be a big downgrade for residents and wildlife.

Roads blasting their way through the topography
Our ‘infrastructure tsunami’ consumes the Earth rapidly. ”Rampant road building has split the Earth’s land into 600,000 fragments, roadless areas are disappearing” (source).

"Today’s transport systems with their supporting infrastructure entail substantial environmental impacts and consume non-renewable natural resources including our most limited asset: space. With ever more roads and railways being built or upgraded, further encroachment on and disturbance of natural living spaces is inevitable" (Laurance et al. 2014). 

"95 percent of forest destruction... occurs within five and a half kilometers of roads. Once the first cut is made, deforestation spreads, and with it fires, hunting and habitat fragmentation." (source)

Back to the little town.
All of NSW is car dependent on fossil fuel transportation. Poverty is expressed as the absence of public transport and safe walking and cycle paths. Low walkability and street networks designed around the car make locals dream of walking at least along the shopping area unharmed.

The tourism interests lobby wants to pump more tourists along the many ‘scenic drives’. Maybe the gridlock in town, WFW and the HWY can be alleviated. During the standstill and frequent blackouts shops close their doors quickly. Time to drive along the dangling electricity wires, erosion slopes, land clearing and roadkill.

Walking
In Australia and “America a pedestrian is someone who has just parked their car.” The average Australian takes 9,695 steps per day in a car dependent setup to 'get things done'. (source) One drives to 'go for a walk' in habitats where biodiversity lives, but not in bland sub-urban human settlements. The city flâneur is an alien here.

At a time when internal combustion mobility became ubiquitous in the Western world Alberto Giacometti created Walking Man I.

 

Walking Man I, Alberto Giacometti

Gurruuja the whale came from the Milky Way...

Gurruuja the whale came from the Milky Way bringing along all living creatures and shaping the land. Humming musical notes on the trail.

So goes the mural in Gumbaynggirr country, Scotts Head Public School.

Many creatures inhabit this school, giving the place a very special ambiance.

Outside, hot suburbia spreads, rejecting the local environment.

Big chunks of coast and gentle green hills populated with bio-diversity are to be flogged off. What would the inveterate composer say?

Update:
Images: A comment from the 23.2.19 gave us a reminder to mention the mural artist Nelli Gallop that did the art works on the Scotts Head primary School (above pictures). The name of the painter was not known to us when we admired the beautiful images on the public building at the time. Apologies.