On my last day at Hervey Bay I was told by neighbours of my mother that the population of the area is forecast to double in the next decade. It made me appreciate that at least the Fraser Coast Regional Council has placed a certain level of importance on the foreshore trees and the protection they offer. As I stated in an earlier post, cyclones are a fairly frequent phenomena in this area. The thin strip of foreshore forest is really vital for protection from storms and cyclones.
Even though my photographs from an earlier post show what looks like a fairly thickly treed area along the cycle path, the aerial view on this bill board below tells us how narrow and sketchy that foreshore strip really is.
Bill board showing a picture of how the foreshore became so developed, block by block. Thin strip of natural remnant forest serving as buffer zone.
The wider area at the bottom left is the caravan park, which has many tall blue gums and cypress pines, but no understory at all. Further along, in the more dense area, is the restoration project where all ages and stages of forest growth are present.
The wider area at the bottom left is the caravan park, which has many tall blue gums and cypress pines, but not much shrub layer for protection from sea side storms and cyclones.
Before I left I cycled down to the other end of the cycle path, near where my parents lived when they first moved to the area. Although some fairly major holiday apartments have been built overlooking the marina, the little beach where I used to swim has stayed the same. I took some photos from the sea of the neat job nature has done at safeguarding the land from the sea:
Buffer zone of natural pioneer and climax trees knitting together to give shelter from the cyclonic storms.
Here’s a close up of what’s going on:
Tough grasses knitting into the sand, then she-oak, coastal cypress, coastal ash and blue gum forming a thick mosaic barrier against cyclonic storms
If we are to take lessons from hindsight, surely one of the most dramatic in our life time (so far!) was from the tsunami that hit Asian countries on the Indian Ocean in December 2004. Scientists stated that the impact of the waves could have been significantly lessoned if the swathes of native mangrove trees had not been removed from coastal areas. We’re talking thousands of lives here. But then, there’s always this feeling of ‘it can’t happen here’.
When I looked at some of the arial photographs taken, before and after, I couldn’t help thinking how similar the before shots looked to the Hervey Bay coastline. Sunny, holiday areas where fishing boats and pleasure yachts moored off long piers. Holiday resorts at the front and local housing and businesses behind.
I suppose this post is like a plea to all people in local Councils, people in Governments and all those who can, – to let nature do it’s thing and to work to find a balance that will afford humans, wildlife, and nature an equal footing so that we all can benefit from each other. It’s a goal worth really going for, full out.
View of Woody and Fraser Islands from the beach at Hervey Bay, framed by beautiful coastal she-oak tree.
http://www.masternewmedia.org/images/before_after_tsunami_2004_500.jpg
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Tags: Australian forests, buffer zone
