Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

Plants and Animals

A Note from the Daintree

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Hello Jennifer,

Tourism in the Daintree Rainforest is continuing to decline, partly because of the relative value of the Australian dollar.

Recent upturns in the global economy have been met with a proportionate recovery in other parts of Australia, but the far north seems to have suffered the double whammy of natural disasters which have been overly-publicised to the extent that many travellers to Australia are still shying away from Queensland.

The challenge for the people of the Daintree Rainforest is to get the word out that we are enjoying unobstructed accessibility, are open for business and waiting to showcase the rich diversity of experiences that make a great nature-based holiday in the oldest rainforest in the world.

If you feel inclined to assist, kindly forward this eNewsletter onto a friend who may be considering travelling in the not too distant future…
[Read more…] about A Note from the Daintree

Orange-thighed Tree Frogs: Part 2

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Neil Hewett, who lives in the Daintree, posted on Orange-thighed Tree Frogs in October 2007.   That blog post has gathered a couple of recent comments, including from Shane Panton near Coffs Harbour, NSW, claiming to have Orange-thighed frogs mating on his property …
https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/2007/10/orange-thighed-tree-frogs/

And start here with planning for your holiday in North Queensland… http://www.ccwild.com/

The National Parks: America’s Best Idea

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ONE of the best Christmas presents I received this year is a film by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan entitled ‘The National Parks: America’s Best Idea’ – as twelve episodes contained in a case of five DVDs.

So far I’ve watched episodes one to four which begin with John Muir’s campaign to protect Yosemite in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California from commercial development and ends with his failure to stop the flooding of Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley.

As the case cover explains: “Nearly a decade in the making, The National Parks: America’s Best Idea…  is a breathtaking journey through the nation’s most spectacular landscapes and a celebration of the people – famous and unknown – who fought to save them for future generations to treasure.”

The first four episodes provide tremendous insight into not only the environmental campaigns lead by John Muir, who founded the Sierra Club, but also the important role of President Theodore Roosevelt in establishing and protecting national parks and also national monuments in the US.  

The film is a reminder of how much was at risk before there was environmental legislation and protection.  The story of the slaughter of bison in Yellowstone National Park to the verge of extinct is particularly harrowing.  

John Muir would nowadays be called an environmentalist, or conservationists, but one hundred years ago he was recognized as a preservationist.   In losing the fight to protect Hetch Hetchy Valley it may have appeared that the preservationists had lost to the conservationists.  

In fact John Muir may have lost the battle, but won the war: Most of today’s environmental and conservation groups campaign for preservation, rather than conservation.    And of course the management of national parks today in Australia, is mostly in accordance with the preservationist’s philosophy.

The film is narrated from the perspective of the preservationists with a deep respect for natural history and natural landscapes.  

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Following is an explanation of the difference between preservation and conservation. 
from Wikipedia… 

“In July 1896, [John] Muir became associated with Gifford Pinchot, a national leader in the conservation movement. Pinchot was the first head of the United States Forest Service and a leading spokesman for the sustainable use of natural resources for the benefit of the people. His views eventually clashed with Muir and highlighted two diverging views of the use of the country’s natural resources.

Pinchot saw conservation as a means of managing the nation’s natural resources for long-term sustainable commercial use. As a professional forester, his view was that “forestry is tree farming,” without destroying the long-term viability of the forests.

Muir valued nature for its spiritual and transcendental qualities. In one essay about the National Parks, he referred to them as “places for rest, inspiration, and prayers.” He often encouraged city dwellers to experience nature for its spiritual nourishment. Both men opposed reckless exploitation of natural resources, including clear-cutting of forests. Even Muir acknowledged the need for timber and the forests to provide it, but Pinchot’s view of wilderness management was far more utilitarian.

Their friendship ended late in the summer of 1897 when Pinchot released a statement to a Seattle newspaper supporting sheep grazing in forest reserves. Muir confronted Pinchot and demanded an explanation. When Pinchot reiterated his position, Muir told him: “I don’t want any thing more to do with you.” This philosophical divide soon expanded and split the conservation movement into two camps: the preservationists, led by Muir, and Pinchot’s camp, who co-opted the term “conservation.” The two men debated their positions in popular magazines, such as Outlook, Harper’s Weekly, Atlantic Monthly, World’s Work, and Century.

Their contrasting views were highlighted again when the United States was deciding whether to dam Hetch Hetchy Valley. Pinchot favored the damming of the valley as “the highest possible use which could be made of it.” In contrast, Muir proclaimed, “Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people’s cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the hearts of man.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Muir

A Time for Sharing

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Frogs in the Daintree

I’ve just received an email with Season’s Greetings from Neil Hewett.  Those who have followed this blog for several years will remember Neil for his wonderful posts from the Daintree Rainforest of North Queensland – the oldest surviving rainforest in the world. 

Neil wrote:

As 2010 draws to a close, we reflect upon a year of challenge and excitement.  Passing the seven-metre mark, it was the wettest year in living memory and surely the year of the tree-frog, whose niche is best supported in an abundance of rainfall. 

It was also the year that we learnt of the separation of the Northern population of Stoney Creek Tree Frog into its own species:  Northern Stoney Creek Frog Litoria jungguy, depicted in festive splendour (above – click on the image to see the other frog). 

Cassowary sightings were unprecedented in their frequency.  Over the years, the big birds have become increasingly nonchalant in our presence, but 2010 has set a new standard.  There were times when we were regularly seeing eight different birds a day, sometimes all at once.  With every year that passes, we gain additional insight into the complex social arrangements that distinguish these rainforest ratites with wisdom commensurate with their years.

One of the most important and appreciated gifts of the year is the completion of the first half of the Cooper Creek causeway.  Whilst a development that would probably go largely unnoticed by external interests, there are many important reasons why this significant infrastructure upgrade will provide benefits to the Daintree Rainforest, the people that live within it and the travelers that provide the sole conservation economy through their patronage.

Visit Neil at:

http://www.ccwild.com/

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And best wishes to Neil and Angie, Tulli, Taiga, Tkoda and Prue, and also to you and yours, for Christmas 2010.

How Much Should One Frog Eat?

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THE green tree frog, with the white lip, that I fed last night is currently asleep outside my kitchen window.  

Last night she – I call her Emily – ate four grasshoppers, two moths, one bush cockroach, one click-beetle, but refused the squirming earthworm I held out for her.

I understand it is easy to overfed a frog.  

There are lots of grasshoppers in my veggie garden at the moment which I can easily collect during the day and keep alive in a container for Emily when she wakes up around 7pm.   But, how many should I feed her each night?  

Picture taken by Neil Hewett of a frog like Emily in the Daintree.

And please, spare me the response from the public servants – who for mostly just sitting on their bums each day get money regularly fed into their Sydney bank accounts – that Emily should actually go hunting for her own food in the wilds of the adjacent nature reserve.

White Bark Pine Trees (Part 2): A Note from James Mayeau

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James Mayeu_White Bark Pine_one tree cut “THE trail we were on is at the treeline, 8 or 9 thousand feet.  Most of the time it’s buried under 6 to 10 feet of snow, so not too many people get up their until late spring or early summer…   First people in are rangers who maintain the trail by removing tree falls or routing around avalanches.”

So began a recent email from James Mayeau telling me about a hike up to Round Top Lake with Larry Fields.  They were returning to get some photographs of the White Bark Pine Trees… remember Mr Fields told us about them in the Sierra Nevada Range of California along with that lesson on climate change?  

Anyway following is the official account from Mr Mayeau:

“GUIDED by an experienced hiker with an encyclopaedic familiarity of the trails of the central Sierra Nevada, we made the assent to the headwater of the American River.  [Read more…] about White Bark Pine Trees (Part 2): A Note from James Mayeau