When I’m not writing or leading trips, I help run conservationWhy is animal conservation important? Animal conservation is important, because animals are the only mechanism to create biodiversity, which is the mechanism that creates a habitable planet for humans. Without animals, the energy from today’s plants (algae, trees, flowers etc) will eventually reach the atmosphere and ocean, much of it as carbon. The quantity of this plant-based waste is so More programs. This one, which I would love you to sign up for, might be among the most important I’ve ever done. Why? Because our community’s future, our sense of belonging, strength of our economy, personal wellbeing and cost of living, depends on it. Second, to unlock that potential means restoring natural processes and that cannot be done, unless it is community-led and community co-designed. Will you help restore Port Phillip Bay by answering 2 questions?
What is Restore the Bay
This is the first time that an approach like this has been applied in an urban setting. The reason for it is very simple. Let me ask you this:
How do you feel when you connect with the Bay and how much impact does that have on your work productivityThe power of an ecosystem to process energy. The most productive ecosystems have reached a steady stable-state with maximum entropy production. That’s to say, the number of species has reached an optimum and the functions they fulfil, have translated free surplus energy into nutrients that is either stored inside plants and animals, or is entrained within the biological cycles that More, home life, personal mental and physical health?
If your answer is … I couldn’t exist without it, then you’ve just proved why you’re essential to this process.
No-one has ever measured the importance of the Bay to the entire strength and resilienceReferring to an ecosystem’s ability to maintain a steady stable-state. The need to build resilience is entirely anthropocentric and symptomatic of ecosystems that are damaged or declining, leading to loss of ecosystem services on which humans depend. More of our community and economy. That alone is a key reason for protecting and restoring nature. Omitting this step is why, to date, conservation has largely failed to deliver.
Making nature visible
To a large extent, nature is invisible to our economy. Yet we depend entirely upon it.
Yet after we measure the degree to which our values connect with the ecosystemHow ecosystems function An ecosystem is a community of lifeforms that interact in such an optimal way that how ecosystems function best, is when all components (including humans and other animals) can persist and live alongside each other for the longest time possible. Ecosystems are fuelled by the energy created by plants (primary producers) that convert the Sun's heat energy More, we can evaluate the importance of the landscape and this becomes the basis for a community co-designed set of actions.
This project isn’t just another to come up with a set of wishes. It’s not an idea of what we might do, but a way to understand what we must do, if we’re to create maximum benefit for our community, nature and the economy in one. This project has measurable, meaningful outcomes and is a pathway to real change … change that we can demonstrate and show how it can happen and what the benefits will be.
This is a story that has to unfold for you to see it work though. It’s too much for me to explain every last detail here. However, if you sign up for more information, I will send you updates and keep you informed about the work as it progresses.
Let me leave you with this one thought:
What if the way you connect with the Bay already, becomes all you need to do, to restore its natural processes? What if your personal connection and recreation is in fact, contributing as much, maybe more, to the economy than work? What if we can turn that into a reason to protect and restore the Bay?
This is all likely to be the case. We shouldn’t be undervaluing our time spent at the Bay or indeed, the Bay’s critical importance to our economy, livelihoods and lifestyles.
Will you help by answering 2 questions?
Will you help restore Port Phillip Bay by answering 2 questions? Even this initial step is critical and will contribute significantly to our outcomes.
In return, we’d like to give you the chance to win a trip to Phillip Island.
Once you’re signed up, let us know if you’d like to remain involved and we’ll send you updates.
Can you help spread the word?
If you represent a community group, let me know, and I can send some information to share. Otherwise, please do encourage your friends and family to participate.
Cheers : )
Simon, Project Manager for Restore the Bay. https://www.restorethebay.org.au/
