Claypans park call
27/1/10: A series of claypans in the Alice Springs area should be declared a national park, according to a scientist who specialises in the study of invertebrates, reports ABC Rural News. The Iparpa claypans are about 15 km from the town centre, and currently full of rainwater, and were recently the site of an impromptu regatta. In 2007 they were an art site for a national arts conference (see picture, left). The claypans are home to one of the world’s oldest surviving life forms, a crustacean that is brought to life in rain
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Alice Springs, AUSTRALIA
Oh my god they are at it again. Save a species from man. Oh how horrible man is. Garbage. Man and creatures have been sharing the same environment for over 40 years. It is called coexistence. And those creatures they talk of are still there. They must be they found them. Are these the same people who refer to the swamp as natural water land swamp and give environment control approval for many many years to power and water to allow their sewage waste to devestate the area? My guess is yes. I have watched the 400-plus year old coolabah trees die from the contamination of the sewage waste and told by members of the environment lands that they were an introduced species. Over 400 years old? My question is who planted them. How about those with the opinions, do the right thing by animals and man and stop the dumping of raw sewage into the swamp and force power and water to install a water treatment plant and build up a dam wall on Ilparpa road and with the drinkable water from the sewage pump into the swamp area and make a very useable water recreation area for boating and fishing and recreational swimming? That would be a true and environmental forward movement and benefit the creatures and man. Think outside the circle and cohabitate with all.
Thanks for your comment Janet. I’m almost sure they’re not the same people. I would have though the claypans and the sewerage issue are two very different matters. I certainly didn’t get the impression that the scientist in question (a specialist in invertebrate life forms) wanted to exclude people from the area. As one of the many people who has enjoyed the claypans for thirty years I can’t see the problem of the claypans being a national park. There are plenty of national parks that are shared by humans and critters of all kinds.
Hi Dave, just come home from work and taken a peak at Comments from Jan, and your reply. About National Parks. National Parks always sound rather grand and sought of give the impression that things will be looked after. Unfortunately in my experience, often the main effect of having a National Park is to exclude people. The Clay pans, as part of the Town Common have been available for use by the whole community for generations. The Pans were part of the Police Paddock, The Butchers Paddock, The Locals Horse Paddock, doing duty as the watering hole, local speedway, place to ride your bikes, ride your horse, walk your dog, ect for as long as Alice has been here. Those so called Rare Invertebrates have survived all of this activity, and they continue to exist, not only in the clay pans but in just about every water hole in Central Australia. So,” yes”, let’s talk about protection and use of the Pans, and the Common. But let’s make that usage in the interest of the whole community! Let’s not see them locked away where nobody, can use and enjoy them. Which will eventually result in nobody valuing them? There is no reason at all, for instance, why the Clay pans couldn’t be kept full, and used as a water recreation area for Alice! Remember all you budding environmentalists, People need space Too! And no matter what we eventually decide let’s just stick with the facts and not find contrived reasons for bringing about a result we may well live to regret. For those who don’t know the Brown Family has lived alongside and made use of those Pans along with the rest of the community for some 65years.
Steve Brown- Can you name us one National Park which is closed to people? Fact is NT Parks manage the estate of protected lands for everyone and spend a small fortune each year maintaining infrastructure so that everyone can use them. If the scientists had their way many places would be ‘locked up’ but Parks has a really strong ‘public good’ ethos. They even spend money on advertising and events to encourage visitation- so how can you claim that the claypans becoming cared for as a National Park would be somehow anti-people?
Currently the claypans is a ridiculous free-for-all. Since the recent rains for every visit I’ve made which has been an awesome, refreshing, relaxing experience I’ve had another visit ruined by hooligans hooning around: I’ve saw a dozen people flee one time because of just one thug screaming around showing off in his muscletruck ruining it for us all. I think its a miracle the rare wildlife there has survived the flogging that a minority of locals think they are entitled to give the place. And don’t accuse me of being anti-4wd: I own a landcruiser. I use it offroad regulalrly but I do it responsibly. There are more than enough places to go without tearing up wildlife sites which should be protected for everyone.
You would think that by now we’d have figured out that by protecting landscapes and wildlife we are also protecting jobs in tourism into the future.
By the way, the martian-looking shield shrimps are going gangbusters out there right now. Don’t let the morons scare you off!
Mark I think your comment clearly demonstrates exactly what I was saying. You quite clearly believe your own interests, are above those of the people you refer to as morons. And funnily enough you will find they feel exactly the same way about you! Mark, there are other interests in the world other than your own, other people have a right to some space too. The Claypans have been used for the kinds of activity you describe for generations, why should your holier-than-thou outlook take precedence over theirs? That being said, of course some kind of sensible management of the area should take place, but if we were simply to turn it over to National Parks as we have with other areas over the years the effect is to lock the majority of the area away from the majority of the population, as it has in every National Park we’ve declared. Access to the car park and ablution facilities is not access to the Park! The overriding cocern of National Parks is “conservation”, and their main method of achieving that is to lock people out! They kick out the cars and the bikes they kick out the dogs and the horses They kick out the family drive picnics and generaly minimize the acess to all kinds of traffic except walkers, even they being restricted to certain pathways. I know, there are some like you Mark, who will think that is fine, but what about the Mums And the Dads, the Old and the weak, those with not enough time, what about the kids? “Yep”, the net effect is to hand the park over to that small percentage of the population who can and do walk the distances required to access these parks. Sadly, the long term effect is that the majority of the population cease to use these Parks and in so doing cease to value them. I am suggesting a much more people-orientated approach that allows much greater access for a much larger cross section of the community. It is in the interests of any park’s longevity, that they continue to hold a special place in the hearts of the general population. So when discussing future use of the Clay Pan area lets come up with a model in keeping with the areas previous history. A model that allows continuing sensible use of the area by as many and as varied interest groups as is possible. Even by you Mark.