Estuaries of Australia in 2050 and Beyond. 

Written by Reg Uncles (Plymouth Marine Laboratory)

A location map of the estuaries and coastal waters featured in this book. The Swan, Keep, and Peel-Harvey estuaries, and the estuary and coastal waters of Townsville are discussed in this synthesis; the other sites are described in a chapter each in this book.

Byron – mad, bad suburbia

Written By Cate Coorey

Byron Bay is full of self indulgent, superfood-munching wankers. I might even be one of those people. I moved to the Bay three years ago; I’ve wanted to come for thirty. It’s changed – not as many ferals on the streets – but enough remains of an eighteen-year-old’s memories about Byron that still mark it as different from every other town on the east coast.

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A Town Like Byron Bay:

by Jim Prentice

Future Risk, Design and Healthy Industries

Byron Bay has a special status. It has the imagery to attract international and national visitors. Yet that status is contingent on it recreating itself attractively for the future, and holding on to its past. With ferocious competition from other coastal towns in Australia and internationally, tourism needs supplementation. 

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Three Assesments

2002 assessment of Australian estuaries was very clear about the  dire situation . 2016 is prettier more comprehensive which is good and camouflages the still dire situation

Follow the money? This time, it leads to the recent state decision to rezone West Byron and construct over 1,100 buildings on 65.5 hectares of drained swamp.

“…trouble’s takin’ place in the lowlands at night.. Backwater blues done call me to pack my things and go” Bessie Smith From the 1950s, drained backswamps became the yards for new housing in New Orleans, only to flood during storms right through to the 21st century.

Acid Sulfate Soils

What are Acid Sulfate Soils? Acid sulfate soils (ASS) are the common name given to sediments and soils containing iron sulfides which, when exposed to oxygen, generate sulfuric acid. The impacts of acid sulfate soil oxidation constitute the most acute water-based environmental problem in coastal areas of NSW, comparable in environmental and economic terms to the effects of salinity on inland waters.

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Why acid sulfate soils are a problem

Floodplains and wetlands in freshwater and estuarine areas provide essential nursery habitat for a large number of fish and invertebrate species, many of which are commercially and recreationally significant. Land and water management can and frequently have resulted in the exposure or drainage of acid sulfate soils.

Developing Prioritised Restoration Plans for  NSW Estuaries

Identifying sustainable estuarine management opportunities requires a detailed understanding of community needs and broad acre estuarine processes.

Pop-up cemetery for marine life lost to plastic

Activist group Positive Change for Marine Life joined with Ban The Bag NSW to stage a protest action at Byron Bay’s Main Beach on Sunday. Participants built a pop-up cemetery draped in plastic bags in memory of ‘the animals lost to plastic ingestion and entanglement’.

The two most common Australian prawns caught in NSW and Queensland are eastern king and school prawn. They are known as penaeids. They differ from those of the northern hemisphere, which are carideans. The difference is down to female reproductive habits.

Story & photo Mary Gardner

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Habitat loss puts us in extinction cliffhanger

baby flatback turtles: unborn sea turtles are known to call out to each other from inside their eggs and coordinate their hatching time. (AAP Image/Neda Vanovac)

Written by Mary Gardner

Impacts of urban and rural development

The main threat to the health, abundance and diversity of fish in NSW is the destruction of their habitat.

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There are many threats to fish habitats if you like to read more widely and deeply in this document produced by the NSW Department of Primary Industry. There is a ample scope to learn.  Its about all the interruptions and loud noise , pesticide, and run off to flow blockages. There is also excessive clearing of the land  and banks.

Benefits of a Healthy Environment

There are multiple factors affecting Estuaries like Belongil. Each one needs addressing separately. It is too easy to blame climate change for these cumulative effects and it is almost an excuse for inaction.

Byron-Belongil Env Group

Our meeting was in two parts. The first part was a discussion about the water infrastructure in town and the Byron Master Plan. The Plan is a great opportunity to start addressing flooding, pollution and stormwater problems at the town centre.

Retired planner submits his vision for Byron Bay

The character of not only  the hinterland but also township  is a concern. Climate change threatens this low lying township with flooding also a problem both related and independently. This design by John Sparkes  deals with some of these issues already presenting to Byron Bay

On several occasions in the past, Australian governments, businesses, communities and individuals have responded creatively and energetically to environmental challenges, with positive outcomes for the health of the environment and economic productivity. It is time for another such occasion.

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We have to face the complexity of the systems we are changing while remaining focused on what we can do locally.

Both need our attention if the local can be easier  global change needs our consideration since we are in the midst of it