iconic Australian symbols

According to the World Wildlife Fund, half the mammals that have become extinct globally in the last 200 years have been Australian species. The WWF is battling the odds against time and climate change to save precious wildlife. WWF Australia has announced its own Australia Day Honours list - the top ten Aussie
Battlers of 2008!

1. green and gold frog
2. cassowary
3. green sawfish
4. yellow-footed rock wallaby
5. red-tailed black cockatoo
6. yellow-snouted geckos
7. swift parrot
8. golden sun moth
9. bridled nailtail wallaby
10. woolly wattle

Protecting the Earth's endangered inhabitants is an overwhelming task, and losing any is tragic and unforgivable. Forests, waterways and other habitat are being destroyed, over-utilised and polluted. The monocultures of livestock industries, housing and developments, are consuming and destroying valuable vegetation and habitat.

Our iconic symbols of Australia, kangaroos, have been devalued as "renewable resources", to hunt and kill on an industrial scale for their little meat and skins. About 70% being killed now are females, often with joeys that will die, and the average age of Reds is about 2 years old now. They are being labelled as a "plague" in areas that they live due to human encroachment and the swelling of population in urban areas.

Not all creatures can share our Australia Day pride!

A healthy biodiversity ensures a viable ecosystem. How is further increasing our population sustainable? "Sustainable" is being used as a greenwashing term when the reality is that we ourselves are becoming an invasive species due to overpopulation. We are becoming the greatest "pest" species!

www.azocleantech.com/Details.asp?newsID=4444
www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/01/24/25045_local-news.html

(Originally published 25 Jan2009 at 10:36:38 +1000 - JS)