Eco online: environmental news, features and opinion from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
Environmental news from Eco online, Sunshine Coast and Queensland environmental news, with indepth sections including interviews, sustainable business, eco adventures, green living and wildlife
Over the past few months, a little film Gasland has been doing a round of screenings on the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane and drawing good crowds. It tells the story of American banjo player and filmmaker Josh Fox’s gradual discovery of the ominous extent of the underground gas industry in the US, how it had somehow, during the George W Bush/Dick … [Read more...]
Book Review: A STRONG BROWN GOD .. the Mary River Diary Author: Steven Lang Some seventeen years ago, in conversation with man from the state government’s Water Resources Commission, I made reference to Steven Lang who had just walked the length of the Mary River, from its source in the hills to the west of Maleny, to its mouth, beyond … [Read more...]
It’s often said that a picture paints a thousand words. Photographs of faces of anguish after the initial announcement, beautiful natural scenes that were so close to being lost forever and finally faces of joy and relief after the simple word, ‘no’ echoed throughout the Mary Valley. Arkin Mackay’s images made the issue personal. They … [Read more...]
Rugged landscapes, fast-flowing mountain creeks, waterfalls, cascades and impressive forests are all part of a new walk in the Conondale Ranges, several kilometres south of Kenilworth in the scenic Mary Valley. The 10 kilometre walk from Booloumba Campsite 3 up to the impressive Booloumba Falls will eventually form the first day of a four- … [Read more...]
For a community that Government sources claim is starting to accept a dam, Mary Valley residents and others were showing no sign of it when they took too the river to visibly signpost the three mark in their fight too stop the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam. Three years to the day since Peter Beattie’s shock announcement of plans to build … [Read more...]
Since 1988 the Brownwater Classic at Moy Pocket has lured both locals and those involved in the environment movement to a patch of riverine forest near Pickering Bridge on the Mary River. It’s been a celebration of the river, in particular the blackbean tree, for it is the seed pods of this tree that provide the raw material for the tiny craft … [Read more...]
It was a surprise announcement, from left field, as they say. The Premier on the morning news stating that Traveston Dam may be delayed by “at least several years” and that water re-cycling was in doubt. The Courier Mail would call it “Gone to Water” while the Gympie times led with “Dam’s End is Bligh”. It seemed to show the first … [Read more...]
Professor Angela Arthington of the Australian Rivers Institute and Water Co-operative Research Centre has recently released an excellent and timely paper “Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, threatened by a new dam”. The paper draws from a number of sources to provide an overview of lungfish distribution, biology and requirements as … [Read more...]
EIS draws record response With the EIS submission period over, the proposed Traveston Dam has moved squarely into the national conservation arena. Despite being labelled as "far from pristine" by ex-Premier Peter Beattie or " a NIMBY issue" by current Premier Anna Bligh, environmentalists nationally have recognised there is much to be lost … [Read more...]
Recent Comments