LACK OF CONNECTION TO NATURAL WORLD

SOMETHING is amiss when a dead wallaby and a dead possum float through a children’s swimming area in the Coomera River and the adults don’t bat an eyelid.

We were at Charles Holm Reserve on a Sunday and smelled them before we saw them. My kids started crying.

It’s a sure sign of the environmental degradation unfolding in a region that is increasingly numb to the negative side effects of development.

Residents’ lack of connection to the natural world is exacerbated by the relatively few opportunities we have to engage with it on the Gold Coast.

The Nerang River is a classic example. The salt marsh habitat is functionally extinct in the catchment.

The ability of people to interact with the river is very limited because of private ownership of much of the riverbank.

The cumulative impacts of development on the marine and coastal environments are critical.

Back in the day we saw the digging of canals cause the tidal prism to become greater and erosion increased downstream. So that’s a tangible example of what happens when you don’t consider cumulative impacts.

We need to make sure our upper catchments are healthy because we know from catchments that drain into Moreton Bay that a lot of the sediment and nutrients come from upstream.

The upper catchments on the Gold Coast are redeemable in most instances and we can have win-wins upstream by working with landholders. That’s critical.

We need to prioritise the areas that need attention. For example, with the Brisbane River we know exactly where the bulk of the sediment comes from so you can hone in and substantially reduce sediment flow by restoring a fairly limited amount of the catchment.

We need to keep improving stormwater quality and protect the existing pockets of natural environment where there has been in effect new cities proposed on the northern Gold Coast.

We need to ensure any development proposals also include the restoration back to a natural state of a significant area of bushland.

Obviously koalas are under significant threat. That’s the irony when you use an animal to promote the Commonwealth Games.

We need to get serious about protecting native animals.

The Gold Coast City Council’s $3 koala levy on residents, announced in June, is a step in the right direction.