Shaunti Kiehl, Suffolk Park
The Mullumbimby Farmers Market was awarded #1 in Australia, with a photo of the organisers given all the credit while surrounded by, and literally leaning on, the huge trees. But it probably could have been anyone organising those markets. The real draw to that market, and Bangalow (the other most popular market), is the lushness and shade that the big trees provide!
We need to start respecting these amazing life-giving, moisture-holding, shade-providing, carbon-sequestering beauties for what they do for us. Instead of constant talk of planting new ones, realise the old ones are who provide all the services we rely on for our every breath. Every single one should be protected in perpetuity; it’s now or never.
Australia is in the top ten worldwide for deforestation. And to make it worse, The Nationals have just wrenched us backwards in time by 25 years for koala protections, right after the big intergovernmental report came in that the koala will be extinct by 2050 if land clearing doesn’t ease up. This is ecocide. And it needs to be made illegal, like all other forms of murder.
It really is time to wake up and stop treating our only planet like our worst enemy. Let’s start by crediting old trees for all they do, and treat them like the absolute kings of the land that they are.
