Saturday, November 15, 2008

Sensitive workers are needed in conservation areas



Beach cleanup, along nature conservation areas, should be done under the supervision of our conservation department; and not by the parks department workers.
Contract workers are often employed to work in sensitive areas with no training regarding conservation. They are expected to be sensitive to the plants and animals, in conservation areas, and often left to their own devices.

Last year beach cleanup teams were operating while the Oystercatchers were rearing their chicks. The plovers and other beach dwellers were also not considered.
Luckily, these people were quite lazy and did little other than sunbathing.

The school children that were sent to collect rubbish along the beach during breeding season did more harm. They trampled over the sensitive area in groups.
Seaweed, that hosts a multitude of little animals that form part of the beach birds' diet, is being removed to tidy the beaches.

The preservation of indigenous animals are as important as plants. Their numbers are decreasing at an alarming rate.

We should consider that Plovers breed in the same area where the sea spews out the rubbish.
We should not wait until they hit the endangered list before we take action. Prevention is ever better than cure.

No comments: