In early March 2021 our second Highways and Byways partnership program began in north eastern Tasmania, and we are excited to be engaged in this important work.
The impacts of climate change and ecosystem degradation are confronting. Taking any kind of action sometimes feels overwhelming. We thank you, our supporters who, through your donations, enable Highways and Byways to be involved in a partnership such as this, one we hope to be able to build on and grow into the future.
Restoring Nature and Communities is a 20-week program of ecological restoration and best practice land management in the Break O’Day municipality. Highways and Byways has partnered with North East Bioregional Network (NEBR) who support a consistent ecologically based approach to nature conservation. The NEBR Network have a long history of successful eco-restoration projects in this region.
This program is being managed by the President of NE Bioregional Network Todd Dudley, and will employ, train and support four workers who have been unemployed in the region.
“If ecological restoration is accepted as being a critical nature conservation strategy and activity, and it is properly supported ….. then it can become a unifying social principle in Australian society which cultivates ecological literacy, citizenship and respect, affection, care and love for this continent’s beautiful, unique and irreplaceable flora, fauna and landscapes.”
Todd Dudley, President, NE Bioregional Network
The work will involve pine control at Skyline Tier (a project to restore 350ha of Radiata pine plantation land back to native forest), other native forest regeneration work and removal of invasive species in areas such as a threatened forest community in the Bay of Fires Conservation Area at Binalong Bay .
As the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration gets underway, Highways and Byways commits to supporting initiatives which address the aims of the declaration – Preventing, halting and reversing the degradation of ecosystem worldwide, reminding us of the call of Pope Francis in 2015 in his groundbreaking letter to all.
“I urgently appeal for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.
We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenges we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all……..
If we approach nature and the environment without openness to awe and wonder, if we no longer speak the language of fraternity and beauty in our relationship with the world, our attitude will be that of masters, consumers, ruthless exploiters, unable to set limits on their immediate needs.
By contrast, if we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously.”
Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ – Care For Our Common Home – An Encyclical Letter on Ecology and Climate (#11 and 14)