Floods and the Perilous March of Australian Sprawl

Australia’s urban sprawl into flood-prone regions presents a profound case of civilisation’s unchecked expansion colliding with the very processes of nature. In the philosophy of organism the world is not a static entity but an unfolding process, a constant interplay of forces. The spread of human habitation into precarious landscapes—buoyed by a reliance on fossil fuels that further intensify climatic volatility—is a prime example of what I have termed the “fallacy of misplaced concreteness”: the tendency to treat abstracted human aspirations as if they exist apart from the living, shifting reality of nature.

Cities and suburbs stretch outward in search of economic growth and comfortable living, yet the land itself is not a passive receptacle for human will. The dynamism of rivers, floodplains, and weather systems does not submit to the rigid grids of development. The increasing frequency and severity of floods, driven in part by the very fossil-fuel-intensive activities that enable this expansion, illustrate the failure to integrate our urban ambitions within the deeper rhythms of an evolving planet.

There is an irony here—a civilisation that prizes rational planning is, in fact, perpetuating a chaotic and unsustainable trajectory. This is a problem of abstraction divorced from process. The concrete realities of atmospheric instability, rising sea levels, and the saturation of flood-prone soils are ignored in favor of a narrow economic calculus that sees only the immediate, not the emergent.

What, then, is the remedy? It is not merely a technical fix but a reorientation of thought. True wisdom does not impose an artificial stasis upon a dynamic world but seeks harmony with its processes. A city that respects the patterns of water, that adapts rather than resists, is one that aligns itself with the creative advance of nature rather than standing in opposition to it. If we are to avoid catastrophe, we must cease treating the world as an inert backdrop to human activity and recognize it as the active, evolving reality in which our own future is enmeshed.

(Curated text by Alfred North Whitehead, Process & Reality, Cyclone Alfred, Bellingen Area and ChatGPT.)

Cattle in the Riparian Zones in the Bellinger Valley

Has anything changed for the critically endangered Bellinger River Snapping Turtles in the Bellinger River catchment? 

 

Managing Stock on Waterways and in Wetlands in the Bellinger Valley (pdf)

Why exclude stock from riparian zones? (pdf)



Cattle grazing in arid environments leads to desertification. "Humans as Agents in the Termination of the African Humid Period" (source)

See also:
Healthy Riverbanks Booklet: The Turtle, The Cattle and The Indian Myna (here)

Images:
Turtle and wildlife in clean river, Coffs Harbour mural
Bellinger River banks with cattle, March 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...

The hills around Bellingen could burn for a year...

NSW Forestry Corporation will log, bulldoze and burn Tarkeeth State Forest. “Residents have been told by Forestry Corporation that waste vegetation would be bulldozed into windrows and burnt over a period of a year or more...Imagine the smoke pollution right across the Valley." (source)

Study indicates 'biomass burning' may play larger role in climate change than previously realized. "Based on aircraft observations, satellite data and models, the findings indicate 'biomass burning' may need to be addressed with future regulations. Following closely after COP21, the results could suggest a need to look at other sources of greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to industrial activities and fossil fuel combustion in industrialized nations." (source)

Smoke - "Globally around 340,000 deaths per year are thought to be attributable to the additional pollution from landscape fires. Ending deforestation by burning would have many benefits, not only for global climate and biodiversity but for human health too." (source)

Measuring air quality/ NSW clean air legislation EPA NSW

Smoke and dust sensors. Open source technology for citizens:
Low-cost sensors to measure air quality. Monitor the air you breathe. Nature 09.01.2015


Links:
The hills around Bellingen could 'burn for a year', Bellingen Courier, 22.02.2016

University of Maryland. "Fires burning in Africa, Asia cause high ozone in tropical Pacific: Study indicates 'biomass burning' may play larger role in climate change than previously realized." ScienceDaily, 13.01.2016. 

World Pollutionwatch: Wildfires can kill – far from the flames, Guardian, 31.08.2015

 Hazard reduction burning kills 

Updates:
Tracking forest degradation regarding carbon emissions. Amazon Satellite alerts track deforestation in real time, nature 23.02.2016 

How Forest Loss Is Leading To a Rise in Human Disease, Yale Environment 360, 23.02.2016

Land-clearing surge in Queensland set to wipe out Direct Action gains – report Guardian 29.02.2016

'Like a scene from a doomsday sci-fi movie': Flames burn through Tarkeeth Forest, Bellingen Courier, 24.04.2017

Image:
Eugene von Guérard, Bush fire between Mount Elephant and Timboon, 1857

Freshwater Ecosystems and Cattle

"Today it's simply socially unacceptable to let stock in rivers; people view it in the same way as it's unacceptable to smoke in restaurants"  Conservation group raises alarm over river protection, 22.02.2016  

Image:
Bellingen graffiti: Cattle standing in the Bellinger river

Livestock grazing of riparian vegetation #1

Korora - The Solitary Islands Marine Park Coastal Walk

One stop along the Solitary Islands Marine Park coastal walk (map) is Korora. It is a small ocean-side suburb to the north of Coffs Harbour. Approaching from Charlesworth Bay the walk follows a steep littoral rainforest track. One knows when one is near dwellings as the weeds multiply and the sound of yapping dogs can be heard. All over NSW it seems a tradition to chuck the 'garden clippings' over the fence, into the 'bush'. They strain to distinguish themselves from this amorphous  'bush' of bio-diversity to grow a mono-culture of lawn and pretty weeds. The only welcomed animals are dogs, stuffed with native marsupial meat. The barking cacophony is not the only extension beyond their fence posts, but the diverse bush is also simply annexed as a tip. The chuck and grab formula applies all over coastal Australia - it is a frame of mind.


When the McMansions are 'just in your face' on the cliff top, there are only dead trees and stumps providing ocean 'views'. The bush reserve is simply disposed over by private interests. Coal- powered air conditioners hum along to the barking audio pollution. No solar ever in sight. The thick line of weeds emanating from these non-places get a regular dousing of pesticide. A sign reads 'These trees have been poisoned'.  Juvenile brush boxes hug the edge of the cliff site,  retaining the soil close to the walk way. This endemic coastal rain forest tree has a colourful bark and white flowers.

Leading down steep stairs to the lagoon more tree stumps grace the walk and indicate that it is a culture scape. Till in the 70s this water body has been described as 'a pristine water hole'. Now it stinks and appears to be a health hazard. "A decade on and the lagoon is choked with silt, weeds, pollution and rubbish." It is still fringed by a bit of native vegetation, if not annexed by the properties hugging the stream. A shy yellow-billed spoonbill (Platalea flavipes) is wading in the foul slime-covered waters searching for food. What option has it got but this human sewer?


More houses are directly ON the beach sprouting stumps and green lawn. Unusual white quartz, pumice accumulates here on the sand. Native Pandanus and Crinum pedunculatum scent the air in a positive way - but the stench wins.

At the beach packs of dogs are let loose. Wildlife like plovers and goannas flee to make way for these feces and urine depositing machines. Most of the poo remains. Even as a human being one does not feel that one's safety is guaranteed. The hyper abundance of canines without effective enforcement makes this a 'backgarden of pet enthusiasts' only. Australian wildlife and walkers/ visitors find themselves in a stinking, noisy and threatening place.



The ocean/surf also smells off-putting which makes one wonder about the sewage arrangements of concrete coastal sprawl. Looking back to the cliff one has spectacular views of the human-made erosion from eradicating the cliff vegetation. Landslides are just there where trees have been poisoned and killed. The beach also seems to erode rapidly in this coal-fuelled climate.

Hungry Head Beach Going to the Dogs

Cars shoot through Hungry Head Road, killing wildlife to get to the beach or lookout quickly.

Coastal sprawl pushes into the endemic bush sprouting lawns and exotic flora, fauna and packs of dogs.

At the beach off leash dogs run riot, most pet owners are entertaining 2-3 often large dogs. The dogs urinate and defecate as they go along the beach. Large packs of dogs roam the dunes for any possible Australian wildlife surviving there. Sunseekers do not seem to mind baking in the drenched sand.

Severe erosion, 2- 3 m high the sand has washed away. Very large wildlife supporting banksias collapse onto the beach. Black Cockatoos feed in the last remaining tall trees.
The Surf Life Saving Australia building seems to be melting into the beach. A few rocks thrown at the supporting stumps might not halt the sea level rise.  Collapsed stairs will soon provide easy access for motorists and their dogs again.


At all points of entry are huge signs that dogs are not allowed in this delicate area. The pet owners arriving via fossil fuel power to empty their dogs where others swim or surf must be either illiterate or lawless.

Enforcement does not seem to go further than the signs as with each year the number of exotic canines relieving themselves seems to double.

Gone are the days of Bluetounge lizards racing over the beach sand, sea shore birds resting or even nesting. Biodiversity is sacrificed to a monoculture of 'man and his best friend' from suburbia.

There is always a slight unrelaxed feeling walking along the beach as it is really a highway. Fast and powerful SUVs fly in all directions endangering the life of walkers, beach users and wildlife.

Update:
Wild dog pack ‘hunted’ down grandmother at Casuarina beach, NSW 24032015

See
Valla Nature Reserve and Urbanisation