The Great Barrier Dumping Reef

Image by greatbarrierreef.org.uk

In an age of increasing awareness of global environmental issues, the Great Barrier Reef is at risk of being labelled ‘in danger’ by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) due to ongoing dredging and dumping that is damaging and destroying coral and seagrass.

According to the ‘Fight for the Reef’ campaign, millions of tons of seabed is due to be dredged from the Great Barrier Reef in order to enable bulk carriers such as coal and gas to access ports. Dredging the seabed will result in the destruction of one of the world’s largest organisms, directly impacting the coral and seagrass; fine sediments from the dredging process can travel hundreds of kilometres and cover the reef’s plant life with rocks, sand and clay. A World First study in 2014 also found that dredging has a long-term impact on coral, with diseases such as white syndrome being more than doubled.

The reef’s wildlife is also impacted. A major dredging operation in 2010 allegedly saw the deaths of dugongs, turtles and diseased fish in the area. The impact of this operation alone reached beyond the environmental, with local fishing businesses suffering as a result of the consequential fishing ban.

An amendment to the marine park’s regulations approved by Greg Hunt, the federal environment minister, proposes to ban capital dredge spoil from being dumped in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The amendment does not, however, apply to the reef’s whole world heritage area. Since 2010, 80% of dredge spoil has been dumped outside of the Marine Park area. While not breaching legal terms of the amendment, these actions contradict the environmental aims of Hunt’s ban. It is on this principle primarily that Unesco have threatened to put the reef on its endangered list.

The Great Barrier Reef is still wholly unprotected from the impact of dredging and dumping. The 3,45,000 square kilometres of the marine park are safe from the actions of bulk carriers, but not from the consequences. Australia has the power to protect the entire World Heritage Site, but the fact that 80% of the dredge spoils are still being dumped outside of the park demonstrates that a holistic approach to the protection of the site is not a high priority for the country. 3,45,000 square kilometres of protection is a start, but the government has a long way to go if they wish to protect a popular tourist attraction, a sanctuary for wildlife, and one of the world’s largest organisms.

First published on The Global Panorama.

India: eco-feminism changes perceptions

Image by nevil zaveri via Flickr

In a country that traditionally looks at a girl child as a burden, a small village is challenging perceptions of women with an eco-feminist initiative

The village of Piplantri in the western state of Rajasthan plants 111 trees for every girl born into the community in a tradition began by its former leader, Shyam Sundar Palawal, in 2006. In addition to this, a sum of Rs. 31,000 is raised by villagers and the parents for each girl for a 20-year fund, thus reducing the financial strain otherwise placed onto parents. The ‘burden’ of having girls because of the inevitable marriage dowries is alleviated. The sapling planted—often fruit trees—provide resources to the village for its entire population.

In rural India, in particular, where the custom of dowry is still prevalent, a girl child is not welcomed into the family. As a tradition that has come to be interpreted as compensation for the burden of another woman on her new husband’s family, dowries have harmful cultural as well as financial significance. They associate women, even at birth, with great financial strain and a sense of inconvenience to her community. Piplantri’s eco-feminist initiative, then, is a movement seeking to ease the financial strain placed upon families, and to undermine the very notion of girls being a burden from birth.

The tradition has great significance for women and the environment. In addition to the funds raised for the girl from the community, her parents sign an oath that promises to ensure that their child receives an education and reaches the age of 18 before she is married. This gesture in itself is a move towards protecting young girls from forced marriages and the high levels of sexual violence that can be a part of it. The initiative also strives towards equal education for both sexes—a significant step in the direction of gender equality.

Additionally, the planting of trees ensures that the local environment will not suffer at the expense of a growing village population. The trees are cared for and protected, and used for resources for the expanding population of the village. By linking the trees to the birth of a girl, the village of Piplantri makes an important change to the perception of women in India, associating them with the blossoming of natural life. It also makes a point about the integral role women play in society, not merely as wives, but as active members of the community with the right to education and a full childhood.

Originally published on The Global Panorama.

Bhutan's commitment to conservation

Photograph by rajkumar1220 via Flickr

Bhutan has rejected the use of Gross National Product (GNP) as a measure of its progress since 1971. This was the year in which the reigning king, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, first introduced the concept of Gross National Happiness (GNH), and thus made environmental conservation one of the main pillars of Bhutanese society.

GNH encompasses four main factors of societal development: good governance, sustainable socio-economic development, cultural preservation and environmental conservation. It aims to address national development in broad, holistic terms, rejecting economic profit as the only means of measuring progress in favour of other, non-economic areas of wellbeing. It addresses the human element of society that is increasingly being lost in western nations, and it favours an approach to living which gives people a sense of duty to their community and their surrounding environment.

Environmental conservation has a unique position in Bhutanese society because of its strong link to the wellbeing and profit of the nation’s people. The relatively small size of the country, its isolationism, its topography and its heavy reliance on natural resources for its livelihood means that conservation is an indisputably important element of Bhutan. The country’s interest in conservation stems partly from a cultural and religious awareness of the connectedness of nature, and the spiritual importance given to it through Bon Shamanism. This spiritual background means that the country has a deep-seated commitment to conservation extending far beyond that of an interest in economic progress.

The importance given to environmental conservation on a national level is effective. Because the country’s wellbeing and its natural resources form a complex relationship of dependency, the conservation of those resources takes priority. Bhutan’s high reliance upon hydroelectricity, for example—which forms the basis of the country’s energy supply—means that forest conservation is of the utmost importance. The forests protect the headwaters of the river catchments, which are essential to hydroelectricity; the need for forest cover is so great that the 2008 National Constitution pledged to maintain 60% of the country’s forest cover in perpetuity. The forests are key to the wellbeing of the rural poor, too, contributing to economic growth due to its protection and maintenance of soil and water. That over 75% of the country is covered by forest today is an apt instance of the commitment Bhutan has made to its natural resources since 1971.

Bhutan pledged to commit to conservation on a national level, and the 2008 constitution reflected this by bestowing individual responsibility to all Bhutanese citizens for their environment. The central position conservation holds in the nation’s development means that all plans are made around it. Environmental conservation is important on an individual as well as a national level in Bhutan, and it is this level of commitment that has helped the country succeed environmentally over the years.

The importance of a healthy, prospering environment is becoming more apparent globally as research into environmental damage increases. Bhutan is not a perfect example of a country, but its underlying values are true to increasingly important environmental needs on a global scale. Internationally, now, countries must revise their economy-oriented values and measures of progress, and think sensitively about the needs of the environment as a whole; it is important to remember the importance nature plays in every nation, and to follow Bhutan’s example in committing holistically to an effective conservation plan.

Originally published on The Global Panorama.