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https://theconversation.com/in-2025-lets-make-it-game-on-not-game-over-for-our-precious-natural-world-245761>
"It’s just past midnight in the cool, ancient forests of Tasmania. We’ve spent
a long day and night surveying endangered Tasmanian devils. All around, small
animals scurry through bushes. A devil calls in the darkness. Microbats swoop
and swirl as a spotted-tailed quoll slips through the shadows. Working here is
spine-tingling and electric.
Weeks later, we’re in a moonlit forest in Victoria. It was logged a few years
earlier and burnt by bushfire a few decades before that. The old trees are
gone. So too are the quolls, bats and moths that once dwelled in their hollows.
Invasive blackberry chokes what remains. The silence is deafening, and
devastating.
In our work as field biologists, we often desperately wish we saw a place
before it was cleared, logged, burnt or overtaken by invasive species. Other
times, we hold back tears as we read about the latest environmental
catastrophe, overwhelmed by anger and frustration. Perhaps you know this
feeling of grief?
The new year is a chance to reflect on the past and consider future
possibilities. Perhaps we’ll sign up to the gym, spend more time with family,
or – perish the thought – finally get to the dentist.
But let us also set a New Year’s resolution for nature. Let’s make a personal
pledge to care for beetles and butterflies, rainforests and reefs, for
ourselves, and for future generations. Because now, more than ever — when the
natural world seems to be on the precipice — it’s not too late to be a catalyst
for positive change."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
