EDEN- MONARO/ A NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FOREST
3RD AUGUST 2020
PRODUCTION BY ANDY BRITT
INTERVIEWS AND EDITING BY VIVIEN LANGFORD
GUESTS:
DAN MORGAN - YUIN MAN AND EXPERT ON CULTURAL BURNING
PETER HAGGAR - "CAFE EVOLVE" IN BEGA. PHILOSOPHICAL HEART OF THE RESISTANCE
VIVIEN HARRIS - CLIMATE ACTION NOW ACTIVIST AT WEEK 71 OF HER REMINDER TO BEGA AUTHORITIES
JO DODDS - BUSHFIRE SURVIVORS FOR CLIMATE ACTION /EMERGENCY LEADERS FOR CLIMATE ACTION.ROUNDTABLE
A new relationship with the forest is emerging after fires worse than those in the Amazon spread the length of The Great Dividing range in 2019/2020. The Eden Monaro By election in July, polarised people into the old blame game about hazzard reduction. Some blamed greenies for not wanting any, others blamed loggers for creating hazzards with the debris and flammable new growth they leave behind.
At the Emergy Leaders for Climate Action Summit, Greg Mullins said "We need to stop being such control freaks and develop trust. Climate change is drying out the land and making everything worse." We need to put resources behind the traditional knowledge holders without trying to control them.
We hear from Dan Morgan who explains how cultural burns start slowly so the birds and insects can smell the smoke. Then he talks about learning to read the message from the indicator species . In the video you will see land he has helped protect near Tathra. When the major bushfire went through Tathra, the land that had been managed in the traditional way were not detroyed.
See Dan in this ABC video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM72NtXxyLs
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-14/traditional-owners-predicted-bushfire-disaster/11700320
https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/land/aboriginal-fire-management
Locals told me "Go to "Cafe Evolve" it's the centre of the resistance. Peter Haggar, the owner takes us on a deep dive into the philosophy behind a new relationship with the forest. We talked about the quote on their wall which said
"When our worldview is nolonger compatible with our knowledge of the world, isn't it wiser to alter our worldview rather than altering the facts?"
Peter talks about local people still in shock, living in tents, un sure how to make themselves safe in the future. He says they have had an existential shock and although many voted for the old solutions, many more are seeking something new. He was influenced by an Australian Philosopher Val Plumwood who wrote "Feminism and the mastery of nature"
Peter Haggar sees pluralism as the way forward. So even for city people, any stand for the plurality of gender, race or class is part of the same battle for the diversity of nature. The cultural management of land involves learning about hunderds of bio regions and how to deal with them, so learning to read the land like this is urgent climate action.
.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Plumwood
Vivian Harris was on week 71 of her her stand in front of Bega valley Council and before that the local MP under a Banner saying "CLIMATE ACTION NOW". She talks about the people who sit down to chat with her. Some are worried about their grand children, some are in denial of the science but all have been awed by the drought and bushfires. Despite her shyness she has learned courage from Greta Thunberg and the ripples from her non confrontational presence are felt in other communities like Geelong, where she connects via social media with people making a stand.
Jo Dodds is famous for standing up to PM Turnbull after the Tathra Fires telling him Now is the very time we should be talking about climate change" She is now involved in taking the EPA to court with Bushfire survivors for Climate Action.
https://www.facebook.com/bushfiresurvivors/
They want to work with Matt Keane to develop adequate policies around climate change to prevent worse disasters. She talks about the smoke related deaths and the psychological trauma of prolonged fire.
As Co Chair of the NSW Roundtable on Emergency Leaders for climate action she also sees the urgent need to restore year long forest management in Yuin Country and a new relationship with the forest.
Climate Action Collective
