Remember the Urunga wetlands waste tailings rich in antimony, arsenic, lead and cyanide?

"For five years in the 1960s and 1970s, antimony and other heavy metals leached from an ore processing plant into the melaleuca wetlands. The wetlands used to open up into a moonscape of light grey sand with not a single bit of vegetation."
>>
https://www.crownland.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-07/Urunga-Wetlands-fact-sheet.pdf
https://majorprojects.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/prweb/PRRestService/mp/01/getContent?AttachRef=SSD-5357%2120190227T035916.488%20GMT

Now they want to go for Wild Cattle Creek 'high-grade and high-tonnage' antimony-gold mining >>
https://www.listcorp.com/asx/tmg/trigg-minerals-limited/news/acquisition-of-globally-significant-antimony-project-3091939.html

A Clarence Catchment Alliance community meeting

is being hosted by the Bellingen Environment Centre,
with Blicks River Guardians and Lock the Gate Nambucca,
from 2pm on Friday May 31 at 16 Cudgery St, Dorrigo.
>>
https://clarencevalleynews.com.au/clarence-catchment-alliance-community-meeting/
#NSW #Dorrigo #Urunga #remediation #CoffsHarbour #mining #antimony #gold #extractivism #harm #WildCattleCreek #WCC #water #contamination #wetlands #rivers #waterways #freshwater #MarineWater #platypus #biodiversity #BellingenShire

Prescribed burn in the the Valley of the Giants gone wrong
Save the tourist infrastructure not the national park?

"A plan to protect tourist infrastructure has resulted in an estimated 180 large trees falling over. Western Australian authorities say the planned burn was carried out east of the Valley of the Giants precinct to protect visitor infrastructure. While the tourist hub was untouched, conservationists say the fire has been "catastrophic" for a nearby section of bushland, and the outcome should have been predicted."
>>
https://au.news.yahoo.com/popular-aussie-national-park-too-dangerous-to-enter-after-botched-project-053459736.html

The Dorrigo Arc Rainforest Centre in Dorrigo National Park tourist "upgrade".
Dorrigo Escarpment great walk review of environmental factors: public consultation
Have your say on the review of environmental factors

until Monday 24 February 2025.
>>
https://www2.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/park-management/community-engagement/walking-tracks-and-trails-in-national-parks/dorrigo-great-walk/dorrigo-escarpment-great-walk-review-environmental-factors
#tourism #infrastructure #clutter #Dorrigo #rainforest #systemic #failure #values #bushfires #ControlledBurn #NationalParks

The Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk

Intensifying the throughput rate with a series of soaring walkways through the Gondwana Rainforest

The $56.4 million investment in Dorrigo National Park will create “accessible, engaging and immersive experiences for visitors. The 4-day walking track will “connect people with nature... The new 46-km multi-day walk along the rugged escarpment within Dorrigo and Bindarri national parks, includes hiker camps, pedestrian bridges and lookouts.”

The review of environmental factors for the Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk is available for public comment
>> until 24 February 2025. >>
https://www2.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/parks-reserves-and-protected-areas/park-management/community-engagement/walking-tracks-and-trails-in-national-parks/dorrigo-great-walk
https://www.nsw.gov.au/have-your-say/dorrigo-escarpment-great-walk

The Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk project has the potential to put though an extra 200,000 visitors ...>
https://bellingenshirenews.com/2023/11/22/new-opportunities-flagged-for-shire/

There is an information session at the

Gleniffer Hall at 10am on Tuesday 11 February

at which staff from National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) will outline the draft review of environmental factors (REF) for the Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk.

#biodiversity #rainforest #Gondwana #MidNorthCoast #NationalParks #NSW #BindarriNP #Dorrigo #AdventurePark #infrastructure #lookouts #views #cars #Climate #tourism #traffic #TheDrive #Bellingen #experience #stuff #walkways #ecology #MoreThanHuman #impacts

Stop logging The Great Koala National Park

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfW9OzspOX0
#TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #NSWlogging #SaveCloudsCreek #SheasNobSF #activism #Dorrigo #gliders #koalas #BiodiversityCrisis #ClimateEmergency

The end of the road trip?

The culture of 'the drive' requires sisyphean road maintenance, especially in a climate emergency.

Mobile sprawl as a form of 'recreation' eliminates the landscape. It is the annihilation of space and time. Motorists want to get from their door to the spectacle in the fastest way possible. The 'in-between space' viewed through the car window vanishes.

The pleasure cruise from A to B does not just degrade the landscape, but also eradicates possibilities of a livable planet. The overuse by the masses in their fossil fuel boxes makes the hillsides crumble, leads to landslides and erosion. After flash flooding, drought and heatwaves the roads have to be rebuilt over and over again.

Here are three cases of 'scenic drives':
California, Victoria and NSW

Extreme weather is changing California. These road trips show how
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/28/climate-extremes-california-road-trip

Climate Risk : The Path Ahead for the Great Ocean Road
Unsustainable Tourism
https://www.earlywarningnetwork.com.au/news/the-path-ahead-for-the-great-ocean-road

Waterfall Way scenic drive, NSW
https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/driving-routes/waterfall-way-scenic-drive
Why is the road called Waterfall Way ?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-12-15/waterfall-way-in-dorrigo-coffs-harbour-wet-weather-nsw/12986532

#TheDrive #Cars #roads #ScenicDrive #vehicles #MobileSprawl #tourism #FossilFuels #hazards #RoadTrips #culture #So50s #BigAuto #MobilityDesign #dromology #speed #GreatOceanRoad #WaterfallWay #Dorrigo #NSW #GlenifferRoad #landscapes #erosion #RockFall #FlashFlooding #ClimateCrisis

Master plan developments at the Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk

"The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is seeking feedback on draft master plans for the proposed Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk and the Dorrigo Arc Rainforest Centre, as well as a new draft plan of management for Dorrigo National Park, Bindarri National Park and Bindarri State Conservation Area."

"The visitor centre will be a unique starting point for the stunning new multi-day walk along the escarpment edge through Gondwana World Heritage rainforests, with hut and camping accommodation."

"The proposed Dorrigo Escarpment Great Walk traverses Dorrigo and Bindarri national parks along the rugged escarpment, past teeming waterfalls, giant old-growth trees and over wild rivers as it heads down towards the coast. It will include new viewpoints, several suspension bridges and 46 km of walking track."

https://www.newsofthearea.com.au/view-and-comment-on-the-plans-for-the-dorrigo-escarpment-great-walk-and-arc-rainforest-centre
www.environment.nsw.gov.au/dorrigo-master-plans
#Dorrigo #WorldHeritage #GumbaynggirrPeople #Gondwana #Bindarri #rainforest #infrastructure #views #experience #ViewingPlatform #ObservationDeck #walking

More roads will bring more #FossilFuel tourists.
Imagine being on the Waterfall Way Scenic #Drive in #Bellingen and you cannot charge your electric vehicle.

“The 185 kilometre Waterfall Way scenic drive links Coffs harbour and Armidale, passing rainforest, river valleys and waterfalls, including New England and #Dorrigo National Parks”.
https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/north-coast/coffs-harbour-area/bellingen/attractions/waterfall-way-scenic-drive

“Popular getaway towns reliant on #tourism are struggling to deal with a surge in visitors driving electric vehicles. Businesses rush to install electric vehicle charging to keep tourists coming back. "Imagine showing up in a #petrol car and you had to wait an hour and a half to fill up your car. You just wouldn't do it.”
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-26/businesses-rush-to-install-electric-vehicle-charging/102246716

The 'upgrade' for petrol drivers: "Gleniffer Road provides access between Gleniffer and Bellingen as well as access to the popular #TouristDestination of the #PromisedLand and the #NeverNeverRiver. #GlenifferRoad is also a key #detour route to the Dorrigo Plateau when Waterfall Way is closed."
https://www.bellingen.nsw.gov.au/Services/Major-Projects-Capital-Works/Major-Projects-RoadBridge-works/Roads/Gleniffer-Road
#Energy #FossilFuel #Cars #Roads #50sEngineering #EV #Access #WaterfallWay #ScenicDrive #Climate

Ecologist Mark Graham takes us to the Valley of Death, #NSW
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fogLmItSZns
#Koala habitat #ecocide #desertification makers #pesticide #Gondwana #frogs #Dorrigo #Birds #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #Biodiversity

#Weeds use roadsides as gateways of entry
https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2023/01/alien-plant-species-are-spreading-rapidly-in-mountainous-areas.html

"Our results show that mountain environments are becoming increasingly exposed to biological invasions, emphasizing the need to monitor and prevent potential biosecurity issues emerging in high-elevation ecosystems"
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01979-6

Human impacts on Dorrigo #Rainforest
https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/~/media/7207ECB984334D8586C844058203FE3E.ashx

#Mountain #Roads #Biodiversity non-native #Plants #Neophytes #Anthropogenic #Disturbances #Dorrigo Escarpment #Construction #MountainRoad #WaterfallWay #Bellingen #TouristRoute #Impact

This kinda matches my mood right now
Shot for a themed exhibition "Borderline"
#blackandwhite
#Droneography
#landsacape
#dorrigo
#plateau
#monochrome
#gloomy