Talking about Sustainability and our Forests

A little while ago a satirical graph on the use of the word "sustainable" made it's way around the internet via the National Association of Scholars.  It made me laugh because, as a student of sustainable land management at the time, I'd already become conscious of the fact that the word was being bandied around left, right and centre, without much thought to what it truly meant.

Land Clearing and the Review of Native Vegetation Clearing Guidelines

Just a quick round of thank you: Southern Dandenongs Landcare, Jordan Crooka, Bruce Lindsay of the Environment Defenders Office and Yasmin Kelsall of the Victorian National Parks Association for the detailed talk last night.  

It would appear that by reducing the situations in which a permit is required, making it easier to obtain a permit, using a risk based approach and also changing the language used that the new guidelines will have the overall effect of discounting the importance of local habitat for increased biodiversity.

Passionvine Hopper AKA Fluffy Bums!

This insect is really starting to pick up in numbers in the garden at the moment, with young nymphs and adults being seen in large groups on any stressed plant.
  

Only part of the large colony living on our fig tree

Revegation Practice and Glyphosate

Recently I raised some concerns on fb regarding the current practices used for revegatation work along creek banks in my local area.

Basically, the practice is to use a glyphosate based product to spray the area to be replanted, and perhaps repeat this at intervals.  Once cleared, the young plants used in the revegatation process then have a better chance of becoming established.

What concerned me about this, other than the fact that I believe the use of chemicals in such a way is not a sustainable practice and is in fact somewhat contradictory to the idea behind the revegatation process, was that we may be doing more harm than good.