The consequences of hot sweet tea

There is nothing quite like a steaming cup of hot, honey sweet tea. There is also nothing quite like the contents of that hot cup covering my study desk, my books and the floor. Just as I was about to get stuck into Kay Milton's  Anthropology, Culture and Environmentalism, you guessed it, my cup tipped over. Over everything. #@*! I was really looking forward to my first sip.

But ... while cleaning up I saw a family of fire tail finches feeding in the seeding grasses just outside my study window. Dropped the cleaning cloths and raced for my camera and managed to fire off a few shots before they took off. Thanks to the spilled tea. They are extremely shy and consequently very hard to photograph. With a new cuppa I set down to read again. Happy all round.

Fire tail finches

Milton was talking about environmentalism and comparisons that have been made between industrial and some non-industrial societies. Comparing the environmentalist models as practised by some (for instance) rainforest peoples who obtain most of their sustenance from the forest with minimal impact on the forest with 'the destructive and exploitative activities of commercial loggers, who clear large areas of forest just to remove a few commercially valuable trees'.

Red lobed wattle bird

Milton then goes on to say 'the reverence and respect which non-industrial societies are seen as treating their quarry species is contrasted with the apparently wasteful practices of commercial fishing and whaling, which can decimate whole populations and bring species to the brink of extinction'. This immediately reminded me of the debate going on currently here in Australia about the super trawler Margiris. The operating company is applying for a quota of 18,000 tonnes, which is half of the total allowable fishing quota for the whole of the Small Pelagic Fishery. The fish would be processed on board and most sold to markets in West Africa for $1.00 a kilo. They need to catch 15,000 tonnes just to break even. The West Africans used to have viable local fishing industries until super trawlers entered the scene, now their fishing industries are on the brink of collapse. It seems like a bad idea to me - the thin edge of a wedge.

Twenty-eight parrot

I have to admit the large scale industrialised practices of clear felling and huge scale fishing that sucks up tonnes of sea life in one scoop make me feel sick in the stomach. I find it hard to read the words and I mostly try not to think about it. Several times when reading some of Tim Flannery's books I have had to put them aside for a while before I could face reading further. To keep my conscience clear I only buy locally caught fish - caught in the inlet. To save trees, our furniture is pre-loved or made from recycled timber. I refuse to buy newspapers as I can't bear the thought of all that wasted timber for a day's read. Plus I plant trees. But I do at least have the opportunity to make choices ... many others don't. Whether or not non-industrial societies are as harmonious with nature as some would have us believe, it is the scale of industrial practices that is my concern. A lot of damage can be done in a very short time in the pursuit of a quick buck.

Fire tail finches

It is very easy to ignore it all when I look out the window and see a family of tiny finches nibbling on grasses.

All these photographs were taken this morning through my study window.
Super trawler debate on the ABC website.