For the first time this year the 2008 Living Planet Report included the calculation of a water footprint worldwide. The Living Planet Report as been produced by the WWF, the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network every year for the last eight years. In essence it measures the state of the planets ecosystems and measures their ability to provide again global consumption. This years report suggests that by 2030 we will collectively consume all the goods and services 2 planets can provide.

This year the report is being pitched as documenting a natural capital credit squeeze more significant than the current world financial crisis. Which leads me to a pet subject of mine, ecosystem services. Until it becomes common place to pay for ecosystems services, economic concerns will subjugate environmental needs and the planet will continue to lose it’s natural capital. More from the BBC.  BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Earth on course for eco ‘crunch’

Tags: EcosystemServices, LivingPlanetReport

How low can you go? Some clown has burn down the landcare office at Fassifern. ABC Newcastle NSW - Landcare arson attack angers Mayor
 

Fassifern was a member of the Port Macquarie Landcare Network the photo above show members of the group at a happier time, sampling for bugs at Fassifern Stormwater Quality Improvement Device (SQID).

Here’s hoping that the Fassifern community and Landcare Group get plenty of support and get back on thier feed really soon.

Tags: Arson, Landcare, Fassifern Landcare, PortMaquarie

While eExtension is an emerging discipline and at times hard to draw hard lines around, it is a sector that is set to explode. It is arriving very quickly and is likely to see wide spread uptake in the next 12 to 18 months.

The Philippines government has recognised it’s importance by appointing the Agricultural Training Institute to lead the provision of eExtension services.

While the associated web portal is in a beta phase, it is significant that the government should put resources behind eExtension. There are already a number of online videos in the crop videos section of the site (including one on the cultivation of Tilapia).

Tags: eExtension, Philippines, Tilapia, OnlineVideo,

The Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee MRCCC is one of the oldest Cacthment Care organisations in Queensland.  In 1992 it was one of five pilot areas for the Queensland Government’s Integrated Catchment Management ICM program, and has never looked back.

The Annual General Meeting held last Thursday, 9th October at the Albert Bowls Club, in Gympie. A new look executive was elected with MRCCC president and stalwart Harry Jamieson being replaced by Landcare and MRCCC identity Paul Marshall. Paul comes to the position with a great deal of experience having served with MRCCC, Gympie Landcare, QWaLC, and Landcare Australia Limited. The new president will be ably assisted by Vice President Phil Moran, Natural Resource Manager for Noosa Landcare and Vice Chair of the National Aquatic Weeds Committee.

James Hansen who has a dairy at Brooweena and Margaret Thompson dairy farmer and BMRG board member round out the executive.

Reports to the meeting document significant activity by the organisation including the engagement of 1000 landholders in the past 3 years and a network of 70 waterwatch volunteers

It has been a very busy 12 months for MRCCC which has been compounded by their voluminous response to the proposed Travestone Dam.

Congratulations to all incoming committee members and all the best for the coming year.

 
New ear for MRCCC - Gympie News, Weather, Sport & Local Classifieds | Gympie Times - 2008-10-11 08:00:00.0 - localnews

Tags: MRCCC, MaryRiverCatchmentCoordinatingCommittee, CatchmentCare, ICM, IntegratedCatchmentManagement

There is a moment. I can’t tell whether it has yet to pass or if it can rocketing through last Thursday. However in that moment the world has shifted again. As usual Seth Godin is “Johnny on the Spot” as the shift happens with the publication of this new book “Tribes” and a razor sharp blog post. The meme has 16 questions that just might be the razors edge that divides the have and have nots in our emerging attention economy.

Rich Schefren is on the money also, his recently released report “The Entrepreneurial Emergency” seems to name the gnawing feeling many people online are dealing with right now. As the gluttony of information expands exponentially and attention is stretched beyond imagination new methods are required. We have to process and handle knowledge more effectively.

Oddly enough to coincide with this intangible shift I notice tonight that Landcare Australia Limited have joined the semantic web, going all eExtension with a new Wordpress blog. Tip of the hat to Brian and the crew for that.
May I be so bold as to suggest if you are not updating your ability to wield knowledge, there is some pain coming. So take Seth’s test, and see where you find yourself. I know the test has kicked me in the pants to update skills and attitudes in an effort to ride the wave of the attention age.

read more | digg story

having a break at bargaraI

Our entire family has had a busy couple of weeks. Everyone was involved in the 2008 Queensland Landcare Conference. Michelle was involved in conference planning and coordination, Tom ran a juice bar with other Year 10 students to raise funds for their leadership camp, Basta won the trade display event and Maya and Arki did the cute landcare kids thing.

After reading recent blogs on live conference blogging here, here and here. I was excited about getting as much of the conference online as possible.

However the workload on a small landcare group hosting a state conference meant in reality I had very little time to blog, vlog, or tweet. I did manage to squeeze in a presentation on Leaving a Legacy through eExtension. Thanks to the efforts of Beryl and Cec Bleys from Monto History Centre and their videoing of many keynote speeches and major events, I have managed to get a number of videos online.

• Welcome Reception
• Presidents Welcome
• Traditional Owner Welcome to Country
• Fay Jackson’s Keynote on Mental Health

Interestingly IAALD blog has a great video by Paul Van Mele of the Africa Rice Center recorded at the 2007 Farmer First conference. In the video talks about the “democratisation of knowledge” that occurs when extension information is equitably accessible.

So in an effort to refresh after such a busy period the family and I have invested in a weekend at Bargara. Which seems like a very appropriate place to consider Reef Rescue and Better Catchments, both programs will be part of the eco2oh roster between now and Xmas.