Thursday, May 19, 2011

Developers & Conservation

Am I a pessamist, or are we now really seeing developers begin to take conservation seriously ?
I've just been reading a PDF file regarding the new Trinity housing estates, er sorry, Villages, up at Alkimos and can't believe what I am reading.
Despite the fact that an entire coastal ecosystem (s) has been wiped out by the Barnett bulldozer gang just south of Yanchep, the Trinity crew will be collecting endemic seed from the area.
The seeds will then be propogated in their own nursery (yes, a developer with a native nursery, go figure ...), with the resulting plants to be used for lanscaping in the new villages.
New houses will have eco-logicial front yard landscaping packages and over six-thousand cockatoo friendly trees will be re-planted in an effort to assist the endangered Carnaby's Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus latirostris).
Mixed in with the usual spin doctoring about water-wise sustainable gardens and energy-efficient homes, it all sounds so delightful and beautiful.
Yet, much of it goes against what I am learning in my Conservation and Land Management studies at TAFE.
The use of mulches and 'native plant' fertilisers to assist with revegetation is something I'm writing against in a current assignment for starters.
Inevitably too and despite the supposed enthusiasm for native plants, the quest to have a nice pretty lawn will ensure even more stress on Perth's water supply while the chemicals to feed it will keep a steady stream of pollutants flowing to the already stressed ground water system.
I also dread to think of the impact on nearby Yanchep National Park, especially in ten, twenty or more years time, when all of the Nanna Plants planted in the new gardens have escaped, adapted and become major weeds.
And can you really bulldoze an area and then expect good intentions mixed with key phrases or in vogue methods to restore some semblance of the natural environment ?
I won't answer that one.