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