Ecosystems for nomads: December 2015

Jacaranda tree originally from Brazil

I'm back down under after a six month hiatus, planting the good plants for the new burbs. I have been struggling with the motivation to write -which means I have to take time away from doing fun things, going on adventures and experiencing Aussie surroundings in the present time- as well as the inspiration. The past weekend's climate march in Sydney sparked a flame in me and with that flame I have the burning desire to write about the march, the climate talks in Paris, a.k.a. COP21 (the 21st Conference of Parties referring to world leaders coming together to discuss climate change) and current events pertaining to climate change and the conference in Paris. My job here in Australia, planting the good plants, certainly relates to climate change and our current global struggle with it. I will do my best to relay how this is so, but I'm obsessed with COP21 and climate change in the news these days, so be warned this post dives into a tangent strongly biased towards those events.

Sydney's Climate March 2015

Planting is very different down here in many ways, but most importantly by the substantial decrease in guilt experienced when revegetating -that is, planting native plants for the sake of having them present and enjoying them (rather than for logging a few decades down the road, something us Canadian tree planters are very familiar with). Although there are forestry jobs to be had here in Australia, I have yet to experience them. From what I hear, they are very similar to home (except a lot more sand). For now, I can report on planting in construction zones in new developments, usually residential areas, but occasionally something else like a waste treatment plant. In these areas we plant a wide range of plants such as native grasses, shrubs and eucalyptus as well as other tree species. I feel good about such diversity. It's a nice change to planting monocultures of pine or spruce back home. Instead of travelling to the cut-block on a muddy dirt road sliding and speeding over bumps, we're commuting in big city traffic. It's very odd to live in a city while doing this job. Us tree planters are not used to sleeping in a bed, showering and having to cook for ourselves. Moreover, we're not accustomed to getting on business flights with suits in the evening to fly between Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra or Melbourne depending on where the next job is. Needless to say, we look out of place next to the suits.

The West End Market live music in Brisbane

When we're not planting Monday to Friday, we're going on weekend adventures! Blue Mountains and beaches when we live in Sydney, the dividing range and the Sunshine/Gold coast when we're living in Brisbane. The Surly Troll is kept in Brisbane, so pedalling around the awesome bike tracks along the Brisbane river and to and from farmers markets has been quite a treat.

Cardamom lattes served here at the West End Markets in Brisbane

In addition to fresh produce and live music, the West End Markets in Brisbane have many unique products offered each Saturday. There are Kombucha bars, Kimchi, a multination range of street food as well as edible insects by Bugsy Boys. You can munch on kricket snacks, kricket chocolate chip cookies or buy some kicket flour to make your own tasty treat.

West End Markets, Brisbane

We were informed about some of Sydney's secluded watering holes by my brother's partner, which lead us to a beautiful journey to Resolution Bay in Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park. The whole peninsula is protected, so the drive in to the trailhead is beautiful in itself, lots of winding turns, beautiful views of ocean on either side of the peninsula and wildlife. The 2km walk also offers beautiful views, wildlife, forest and Aboriginal art and history.

Cool lizard found on the hike to Resolution Bay

View on the hike to Resolution Bay

Carving on the rock floor on the hike to Resolution Bay

Resolution Bay in Ku-Ring-Gai Chase NP

Aboriginal occupation site

Braving traffic as we drive onto Sydney's famous harbour bridge

A mural in Sydney's The Rocks

Sydney's Opera House behind thousands who marched the streets during the People's Climate March 2015

I feel incredibly lucky to have been in Sydney for the Peope's Climate March 2015 #COP21. I don't think I've ever used so many hashtags in my life. The use of social media in general to promote, share, express this event has never been so obviously beneficial in my opinion. The importance of the People's Climate March aroud the world resignated in myself and so many others. Although we were not the most populous march in Australia (Melbourne taking the lead with a whopping 60,000 attendees), Sydney sported a proud 45,000 -a generous contribution to the Australia-wide total of 140,000, leading the worldwide total for Sunday, November 29th of over 700,000. I was happy to endure Sydney's heat as it felt like it was more of a struggle and not something that was simple or easy to do. We were definitely standing up for something we are passionate about. At the same time, I acknowledge that Australia was privaledged enough to have weather suitable for such a march, which likely contributed to its leading position that day. In contrast, various marches in the north had to face colder weather -a much less encouraging climate to hit the streets to protest. This is human nature I suppose. In addition, Australia's economy is booming, therefore, there were more people with the means to head down to Sydney's CBD (not a small task given the majority of Sydney's residents are probably a 40 minute drive outside of the CBD, that is if they have a car. If they don't have a car or are environmentally conscious -like our situation- then they would have to take over an hour in public transport to reach the CBD).You need time and money to accomplish these tasks to take part in something our world treats as a privilege and superfluous to quality of life.

Melting Earth ice cream cone at Sydney's People's Climate March 2015

In light of the People's Climate Marches as well as COP21, I would like to draw attention to Naomi Klein's article. She says better than anyone I have come across why the banning of the People's Climate March in Paris was wrongly decided by Hollande and should have been a decision of the people behind the march and those willing to attend.

Are the climate talks in Paris really going to make as big a difference as many optimistic remarks have eluted to based on so-called "unprecedented politcal will"? Or are these meetings to amalgamate each state's vague commitment to climate change in a non-legally binding document that shields each government's real agenda that actually exacerbates climate change?

Aboriginal music and dancing at Sydney's Climate March 2015

China has been praised for reaching a turning point in its dedication to mitigating climate change. I'm not sure how China deserves such praise if they are lying about how much coal they are burning. It is also disturbing to know that Xi Jinping has left the climate conference in Paris after being there for a day or two to meet up with Mugabe in Zimbabwe. The China-Africa summit in South Africa happens to overlap with COP21. Let's hope Xi comes up with a sustainable plan in conjunction with its African investments. I have a suspision that China is not going to stop mining or building roads in Africa. So, Xi, tell us: how do you plan to "...contribute to the establishment of an equitable and effective global mechanism on climate change... " while remaining Africa's largest investor in the very industries that contribute so bluntly to climate change? Please refrain from falling back on answering with "solar", I've seen the solar panels around Uganda and Rwanda. They're good enough to charge a cell phone or two at a time. Not to mention the mining, environmentally damaging chemicals and waste behind the production of solar panels.

Many signs at the Climate March, especially those insisting veganism is the answer to solving climate change

Thank you France for announcing you will be investing billions in damning the Nile (a safe assumption) and other African rivers. Anyone who has a brain (or who has watched the documentary "Damnation") knows that damning is archaic and we must move past this method of non-renewable energy. It is not renewable if we have to alter entire ecosystems and decide who gets a river/lake in their backyard and who doesn't. If this method failed so drastically in the US that damns are now being removed, then the most drought-prone continent in the world probably shouldn't invest in making the same mistake or manually divert water from one region to the next. The people of Paris might have still had a voice even after Hollande removed their right to protest, but African people down river might not have shoes to place in the dry beds left behind after damning the Nile. I have experienced first hand the political sensitivity behind plans to develop Uganda's hydro-electric system and it was not a positive experience, nor will it be for the millions of Africans that will be forced to live with the consequences.

Tibet's Roof of the Earth group was very present at Sydney's Climate March

Canada is no better...yet. Trudeau has made a significantly better impression than Harper at the climate talks, but that's not saying much given Harper didn't show up for the last climate conference in New York. Trudeau has reinstated Canada's traditional reputation for being a 'nice', 'caring', 'thoughful' country by giving inspirational speeches at the climate talks in Paris and he has done well to include Canada's Green Party leader, Elizabeth May, in the government's delegates at COP21, but we are waiting for policy change. He has not taken action towards a greener Canada and his goals for Canada as a contributor to the treaty in the making at the climate talks in Paris are the same as those stated by Harper. Having said this, he has 90 days after the climate conference to rewrite those goals. Let's see what he does.