Over recent months with funding from Ten Lives Cat Centre and Bruny Island Environment Network I have been working with local cat owners and Small World Documentaries to develop a series of educational videos on responsible pet cat ownership. The short, engaging videos capture real-life stories of cat owners sharing the benefits and practicalities of containing their cats. This project is particularly exciting as, to the best of our knowledge, these videos are the first of their kind anywhere around the globe!
Some of you may have heard about the innovative ‘Cat Tracker’ project run by the University of South Australia. The project tracks the movement of pet cats and interviews their owners in order to learn about the roaming behaviours of pet cats and to help cat owners make decisions about their care and welfare.
Contrary to recent public statements by the state government and others, the permits for the Tamar Valley Pulp Mill have not been revoked. But the process to revoke them has started.
From here it seems certain that the permits will eventually be revoked, but we will be following this process to make absolutely certain.
The number of tourists coming to Tasmania per year has increased by a whopping 31% over the last four years, from 961,600 in the year to June 2013 to 1.26 million in the year to June 2016 (Tourism Tasmania figures), and expenditure has grown by even more. But the number of people employed in tourism has hardly changed in those four years.
The Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania (PMAT) was officially launched in July 2017. PMAT is a network of 50 community groups from across Tasmania, campaigning for a strategic, sustainable and integrated planning system which will serve to protect the values that makes Tasmania such a special place to live and visit.
A 2005 Department of Primary Industries and Water report, The Distribution and Abundance of Fallow Deer in the Central Plateau Conservation Area and adjacent areas in Tasmania, confirmed the occasional presence of deer within the Central Plateau Conservation Area (CPCA). This area falls within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA).
One would expect that the quality of the experience that visitors have at tourist attractions and while undertaking tourist activities would be a key factor in driving demand and keep people returning to the state. However, the Tasmanian Tourism industry has inadequate measures of the visitor experience.
Urban sprawl creates unsustainable cities and towns that destroy local habitats and ecosystems, increase carbon emissions and energy consumption, and contribute to poverty, isolation and poor health in communities. Addressing housing affordability through the planning system can help create neighbourhoods that are spatially efficient, well-connected and well-serviced. These neighbourhoods have a lower carbon footprint and require less energy consumption to build, maintain and use. Neighbourhoods with affordable housing options have the potential be to more socially and environmentally sustainable, helping to minimise the impact of cities and towns on both the local and global environment.
Article by Melinda Morris, University of Tasmania
