Never give up big wins for the planet are possible

i’ve been an environmental activist

all my life but it’s hard to think of a

time

when things have been more dire than

they are now

raging fires and floods

cyclones have been devastating the

planet

and people from california

to australia france to bangladesh

and somalia i often speak to young

people

whose whole life they’ve only

experienced

loss loss of coral reefs

loss of forests loss of arctic ice and

the ever

diminishing chance of achieving 1.5

degrees

they march for the climate they march

against more coal mining and gas

but it’s really gut-wrenching when they

turn and they say to me

is there really going to be a livable

future

i don’t know what to say to them but

what i can say

is never ever

give up adopt optimism of the will

because you never know when the damn

wall

will break unlike the younger members of

our community

and like many of you i’ve been around

long enough

to see some great global environmental

winds when the world came together

for example to sign the montreal

protocol

to protect us all from the uv radiation

and the hole in the ozone layer i’ve

watched the signing

of the madrid protocol to protect

antarctica for all time

and of course the movement for

decommissioning of dams

and the bringing down of the elwha dam

in the u.s

i’m particularly lucky because i have

been part of some big

wins for the planet especially in my

home

state of tasmania it’s been upfront

and personal for me as i was part of the

campaign

to stop a hydroelectric dam on the

franklin river

in tasmania i was also part of leading

the campaign

against a multi-national pulp mill at

wesley vale

in 1989 and the doubling of the

tasmanian wilderness world heritage area

a year later

in 1990 i know what it feels like to

have a big win for the planet

it’s what inspires and sustains me

from my own experience i know

that a small group of committed people

can change the world

and i want those young people who are

now despairing

to feel exactly the same way but you

don’t win them all

at least not the first time around and

this is where

lake peter the gift of hope

to the next generation comes in most

people

including the majority of australians

who live outside

tasmania have no idea where lake peter

actually is formed at the end of the

last

ice age it is a magnificent

alpine glacial outwash lake

in the south west of tasmania now in the

tasmanian wilderness world heritage area

it was surrounded by mountains and

framed by

sand dunes and a most exquisitely

beautiful

pink quartzite beach long enough

for light planes to land on its

remoteness

contributed to its pristine wild

beauty and it was a favorite getaway

for those who were prepared to make the

pilgrimage

when in 1967 the state government

announced its plans

to dam and completely submerge lake

peter

to feed a hydroelectric dam

a global movement of artists and

scientists

musicians and nature lovers from all

over the world

rallied to protect it this was long

before colour television

the internet the huge marches and

advertising that form

part of the modern environment movement

this was one of the first environment

campaigns

in the world there was no environmental

activist handbook

and despite our best efforts the

decision to

damn and flood lake petter was confirmed

as the deluge of water flowed in and the

beach was swallowed by the rising water

of the impoundment

people collected sand and the unique

peta pennies small quartzite stones

rimmed by ferromanganese that are very

specific

to the lake it was a final

gesture of defiance and an expression of

faith

that the struggle was not over that one

day

the sand and the peta pennies would be

returned

to the shore the fight against the

flooding of lake

peter was unsuccessful but it inspired

a whole generation it led to the

formation

of the united tasmania group the world’s

first green party

the ethic of putting environmentalism

at the center of politics was born

now there are green parties in more than

90 countries

around the world and it all started

rippling out from lake peter

50 years later it’s time for lake peter

to be the flag bearer of a whole new

global movement

let me explain so many of the earth’s

ecosystems

have been over exploited damaged

degraded as a result of overfishing

logging of forests mining

major pollution incidents agricultural

chemicals

it’s got to the point where we as a

human community

are struggling to be able to feed

ourselves and to access

clean water it’s time to recognize

when we or those have gone before us

have made some very bad calls and we

need to go back

and undo it repair it or restore it

the united nations has recognized just

how urgent this problem is and it has

declared

the whole decade from 2021 to 2030

as the decade of ecosystem restoration

a decade dedicated to halting

the degradation of ecosystems across the

planet

in order to end poverty

address global warming and prevent

mass extinction lake peter is a

prime candidate for ecosystem

restoration and the timing is perfect

because it coincides with the 50th

anniversary

of the inundation of the lake there are

those who say it can’t be done

that after 50 years under the water who

knows whether the beach will still be

there

or whether vegetation will be able to

re-establish

science has provided the answer earlier

this year we sent down a submersible

craft

and it found the beach and the dunes

exactly as they were covered by just a

few

millimeters of sediment

dr anita wilde a specialist ecologist

has also confirmed that the peat soils

so necessary for re-vegetation are also

intact she found that draining the 242

square kilometer impoundment will result

in more

streams and more habitat for creatures

like platypus of course the drawdown of

water will have to be managed carefully

we have to make sure there’s not going

to be additional erosion

we have to be quite confident that we’re

not going to see

a degradation in the peat soils managing

visitor numbers during the restoration

will also be vital

to make sure that the earth is given its

best chance to heal itself

but the good news is from an ecological

perspective

lake peta can be restored some people

argue that there are more urgent threats

like addressing coal mines and stopping

new gas wells

than reversing a decision that was made

50 years ago

but it’s not a question of either

or it’s and

we need to protect what’s left and

restore

what’s being degraded there’s room for

everybody’s activism in restoring nature

not just those who’ve been involved in

environmental campaigns before

the great thing about restoration is

that it’s a

healing process it brings

people together it provides local

employment

it inspires people gives people hope

that we can actually put right the

wrongs of previous generations

it gives us hope that we can get

ecosystems

functioning again without functioning

ecosystems

we have less food less clean water

and less resilience as the planet heats

up

the situation with the global

environment is dire

and there’s a lot of doom and gloom

but lake peter is a victory story

in the making whether you’re a young

person

looking to be part of your first

environmental campaign that’s really

positive

or whether you’re a baby boomer wanting

to leave something better

for your grandchildren or even a

traveller

who’s keen to get hands on in a

restoration project

there’s room for all of you we didn’t

save lake peter the first time around

but we never ever gave up and

i look forward to the day when i can

walk onto the beach

in lake petter and tip on the sand

and the peta pennies that i have that

have been given to me

in trust by those who didn’t live long

enough

to see this day they never gave up on

the restoration of lake peter

and neither have i

you