Bluesfest - East Coast Blues and Roots Music Festival 2009 - bluecray perception

The Byron Bay Bluesfest 2009 shall soon be in the Byron Shire area of the Mt Warning Caldera Region, NE NSW.

shop till you drop bop till you pop

the Bluesfest of Byron is near

the Belongil site's ready

and Tyagarah looks steady

to take on the bluesfest next year

so come drink your fill

load your notes in their till

and party the environment away

your conscience is yours till eternity's here

are your sure that you want it THAT WAY??????

The Byron Bay Bluesfest 2009 clearly illustrates that the  dichotomy of human rational, ignorance and self-gratuitous environmental belief systems is alive and well in Byron Bay, 2009. The Byron Bay Bluesfest has a long history within the Mt Warning Caldera Region and beyond.

And the slow subtle degradation of habitats and environmental health in the Byron Shire also has a long history.  Players in this field (Belongil Fields and beyond) can pat themselves on the back, preen their egos and shuffle their heads back into the sand. I just wonder how many cigarette butts, bottle tops and pieces of plastic they will find there, after the Byron Bay Bluesfest 2009 is gone and the animals that have survived the trauma of forced relocation come back to their homes to continue their lives.

I love music, I love the land, I love the animals and the human spirits that live in this beautiful Mt Warning Caldera Region.  I pray with all my might that some mass consciousness shift occurs at the Byron Bay Bluesfest at Belongil Fields (or is it tyagarah?) this year (2009), so that the coming years of Bluesfest "mania" (Tyagarah ?)become directly, immediately and thoroughly accountable to the authentic spiritual land guardians of the Mt Warning Caldera Region.

I say this, because it is clear to me that the Byron Shire is incapable of taking care of this beautiful part of the world - one only has to walk along the shoreline at Byron and through the parklands to see just how much plastic, rubbish, cigarette butts, bottle tops, batteries and god know's how much unseen waste and toxins have infiltrated the habitats that they proclaim to protect.

The Arakwal people are the historical custodians of the land in this area. Their land stewardship preserved a unique and diverse environmental heritage, much of which has now been swallowed up by inappropriate 19th, 20th and now 21st century development.  Today, more and more people have an increasing  impact on this area and region, and from what I can see, the heritage and rights for the native animals that live in the Habitats of the Byron Shire has been severely compromised.

Words like "precautionary principal", "environmental sustainability", "caring for country" and "global crisis" mean nothing, when the current dichotomy of human words and actions are let loose on the planet. Please don't let the "vision fade".

• 2009 Spendour in the Grass Festival Yelgun 

• Byron Shire Council and the Splendour in the Grass Festival - article in Byron Shire Echo 27th January 2009  

• Environmental Defender’s Office NSW  Ltd

• EDO Compliance Portal - a tool to assist citizens in enforcing environmental law

• Byron Flora and Fauna Study 1999 (google HTML) or at Byron Shire Council publications website
  

Bluecray Darling River (Murray Darling Catchment) Links

Benoit  - the young Crow  (Burringbar,NSW)

The Darling River is a long way from the Mt Warning Caldera Region. If you look at this catchments MAP for the Catchments of NSW and this Qld catchments MAP, you will see that the catchments of the Darling River do not conveniently fit within state borders  of  NSW  and  QLD  .  Eventually, these catchments flow intoVictoria and South Australia. This is the Murray-Darling System spanning 4 Australian States and finally flowing into the ocean in South Australia . To further compound the complexity, governments continually change the historical reference points for understanding this vaste system of waterways.

Money, Scientific Research , Reform processes , Government Initiatives and Community effort  : the LIST is endless when it comes to the response to the management of the Darling River Catchment System. It is decades since the  problems of water loss and farmland sustainability were identified by the Australian Government.

 The history of these initiatives have all but been forgotten as the various personalities of politics and powerplay continually introduce new reforms, create new public agendas and frameworks, find another cause or cure to the issue, waste valuable community effort, time and resources in changing benchmarks and project support and sell off public assets to "fix" the issues.

Oh, now you might say - well what about Carbon Credits and Carbon Trading ?  LANDCARE?  Caring for Country?   Catchment Management Programs?  Greening Australia? Australian Conservation Volunteers?Rotary? Scouts?  There is a huge list of already participating community volunteers and paid environmental advisors out there.

And I might say back to you - well it has been years since the National Landcare and Catchment Management grew from the need to address vital LAND and WATER issues within the Murray-Darling System, and other prominent Catchment Systems in Western Australia, Qld and Victoria. The previous Government sold chunks of government telecommunications to FIX this issue. YET still, the precious WATER of the Murray- Darling undergoes "stream stealing" by channel altering, land reshaping and other catchment interference such as Dams, developments, clearing, innapropriate land use and  waste by monoculture industries that are fully supported by other government incentives and the PUBLIC.

Australian Commonwealth Water Act 2007  - at ComLaw, Attorney-General's Department, Australian Government 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Below is a not conclusive all encompassing list of Catchment links to the Darling and the Murray-Darling system. It is more a list to encourage a starting point to understanding the depth and breadth of this great system that once supported a fantastic number of living flora and fauna, while the original land Custodians of Australia lived and walked the land, ( before the European invasion of Australia in the 18th century and subsequent decline in water quality, species, habitats and adequate land stewardship)

• Beyond Native title: The Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations  
• Recognition of Aboriginal rights, interests and values in river research and management: Perspectives from northern Australia - with implications for Catchment Management throughout Australia
  
• Aboriginal Law Bulletin  
• Caught in the Act - ongoing research blog byKathy Stavrou - brief history of Australia since European occupation of NSW, Australia
• Indigenous Law Bulletin - Indigenous Law Centre, University of NSW, Australia
• Australian Human Rights Commission - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice
• NSW Dept. Environment and Climate Change - Indigenous People of NSW - this is extremely brief considering how long the indigenous Nations have lived throughout Australia and cared so well for its biodiversity and habitats
• The Murray Darling Basin - an overview  
• Current Australian Government Position for Murray Darling System (2009)
• 1. What's in the catchment and where does the water flow_
• ACF - Murray Darling
• Australian Government National Water Commission
• River condition in the Murray-Darling Basin
• Queensland WaterShed - Drainage Divisions & Stream Flow Sites - select a Qld Catchment
• Australian Natural Resources Atlas home page
• Catchment Classification Project
• Catchment Classification_ regional maps- South Australia
• Catchment Mapping - Connected Water Website
• CatCon mapping facility
• map australian catchments - Google Search
• University of Melbourne Integrated Catchment Management Education  

• Darling River - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Darling River Action Group
• Data Library
• Department of Natural Resources and Water Queensland home page
• Develop and implement management options - Connected Water Website
• Dryland Rivers policy document
• Geoscience Australia - Fab Facts, Landforms, Australian Rivers
• Investigate and Assess - Connected Water Website
• Land Use - Australia
• Link to Atlas on-line mapping
• Maps - protected wetlands, rivers and river catchments
• National Mapping - Fab Facts, Landforms from Space
• Rivers - Assessment of River Condition - Queensland
• Set Management Targets - Connected Water Website
• Statwide map
• Australian Government understating Perth catchment rain
• WaterShed
• Australian Government Land and Water  programs
• Water Regulations 2008 - Australian Bureau of Meteorology :  Water Act 2007 & Water Information 
• Australian Water Association  
• Ganesha on the Murray  
• Natural Sequence Farming  
• Natural Sequence Association 
• Biodiversity Assessment Darling Riverine Plains ANRA (Australian Natural Resourse Atlas) i am not sure when this was done
• ENIAR (European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights) 
• Bluecray.org WATER and Darling River LINKS pages

Bluecray Frog Links Mt Warning Caldera Region NE NSW SE QLD Australia

Information about Frogs, Frog Educational Links and Resources can be found in this article. The Mt Warning Caldera Region of NE NSW and SE QLD is home to many different species of FROGS. Frogs and their Habitats in the Mt Warning Caldera Region can be understood more by reading "Declines and Disappearances of Australian Frogs" (ISBN 0 642 54656 8) edited by Alastair Campbell, Environment Australia 1999.

• Frog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• David Suzuki Foundation - Science Matters - Solving Global Warming, Protecting Human Health, Conserving Our Oceans, Promoting Global Conservation, Building a Sustainable Economy

Australian Frog Links

• The Action Plan for Australian Frogs - Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts
• Australian Museum Information Disc - Australian Frogs -
• Australian Museum online - Resources - Herpetology Frog Links -
• Frogs Australia Network - sponsored by Zoos Victoria, this site will inform and delight. FROG EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES for everyone.
• The Frogs of NSW Wetlands currently at NSW Government Natural Resources -
• Water for the Environment Wetlands - NSW Government Natural Resources
• Useful Links & Frog Resources - NSW Government Department of Environment & Climate Change (DECC)
• Endangered Frogs - Queensland Environmental Protection Agency & Qld Parks & Wildlife Service
• National Recovery Plan for Stream Frogs of South East Queensland 2001-2005 -An important RESOURCE to help people in SE Queensland & NE New South Wales help the following FROGS:-

• Fleay's barred-frog (Mixophyes fleayi)
• Giant barred-frog (Mixophyes iteratus)
• Southern gastric-brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silius)
• Southern dayfrog (Taudactylus diumus)
• Kroombit tinkerfrog (Taudactylus pleione)
• Cascade treefrog (Litoria pearsoniana)
• New England treefrog (Litoria subglandulosa)

These FROGS have been given listed either nationally (under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999) or by the Qld Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation 1994. The listings range from vulnerable, endangered to very near extinction, in either SE Queensland or NE NSW or both Australian States. READ the National Recovery Plan and learn how you can help! The Queensland Environmental Protection Agency Publications or the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts Threatened Species Publications has the National Recovery Plan for download.

Currently (May 2008), if you look at the Australian National Threatened Species Listings for FROGS, there are 4 extinct frogs, 2 critically endangered, 14 endangered, and 12 vulnerable Frogs listed. The following Frog links will help you take action locally and regionally.

• Queensland Frog Society Inc. SE Qld
• Native frogs - Froggy facts and Disappearing Frogs at the Queensland Conservation website
• Frog Ponds - Queensland Government Environmental Protection Agency & Qld Parks & Wildlife Service
• Backyard Buddies NSW Department of Environment & Climate Change (Nature Conservation)
• Big Scrub Rainforest Landcare Group - Newsletter Page on Frogs & Cane Toads(2005) by John Pumpurs (amateur herpetologist)
• The Frog and Tadpole Study Group of NSW - FATS - based in Sydney, NSW
• Queensland Museum - Frogs feature -Amphibian Fact Sheets .
• Frogs in the School Grounds - Museum Magnet Schools
• Building Frog Ponds - Earth Beat - ABC Radio National
• Teachers' Toolkit -
• NSW Early Childhood Environmental Education Network -
• Endangered Animals preschool activities & craft including frogs
• Consideration for Frog Pond in the Tropics -

• Frogs - Abundance & Distribution in Australia (State of Environment Indicator IW-32)
• Change in Threatened Frog Species 1993-2004 (State of Environment Indicator BD-02)
• AUSTRALIAN FROGS - Lifecycles, key threats and more at theAustralian Government Department of the Environment ,Water, Heritage & the Arts
• AUSTRALIAN FROGS - an OVERVIEW by the Australian Government Department of the Environment ,Water, Heritage & the Arts
• Australian Threatened Species of Frogs - under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) - listings under Threatened Species and Ecological Communities -
• Threatened Species Publications -Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts - Books, Reports, Facts Sheets, Threatened Ecological Communities, Nationally Threatened Species and Key Threatening Processes FACTSHEETS

• Australian Museum online - research & collections
• Frogs of Australia - Amphibian Research Centre online
• Frog Community Forum Index - via Amphibian Research Centre

Some examples of endangered FROGS in Australia, their status and Conservation Strategies

• Fleay's Frog - Mixophyes fleayi - Endangered - Description, Distribution, Threats, Life Cycle
• Green and Golden Bell Frog - Litoria aurea - Endangered - conservation status in NSW ( Department of Environment & Climate Change NSW ) -
• Booroolong frog - Litoria booroolongensis - Endangered - conservation status in NSW

Global Frog Links

• GLOBAL Amphibian Assessment - Search for Frogs by species, name, taxonomy, country, region, threat, habitat, IUCN status
• AmphibiaWeb - an online database allowing free access to amphibian information. photos, sounds, worldwide.
• Conservation International - Fun Frog Facts for Leap Year 2008 with frog gallery
• Amphibian Ark - International Zoo, Botanic Gardens and Aquariums co-ordinated Public Awareness Campaign

CANE TOADS

• Feral.org.au - has Cane Toad information -
• Invasive Animals CRC has Cane Toad information -
• The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts hasCane Toad Information -
• Australian Museum Fact Sheet - Cane Toads -