Expert Details
What can surfers and other beach users do to help the coastal environment? Ask a leading expert what you can do.
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Name: Dick Olesinski |
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Description:
Dick Olesinski runs an environment management support consultancy in South Australia and is actively involved in many environmental initiatives. He is a life member of South Port SLSC and contributed to the development of the Ecosurf program.
Dick lends his expertise to the Keep Australia Beautiful movement by judging the Australian Tidy Towns award for the past 13 years, and has also judged the Sustainable Cities program.
Dick was one of the founders of the South Port Noarlunga Coastcare group and is a member of the Adelaide NRM Board’s Coast, Estuarine and Marine Advisory Committee.
South Port SLSC
| Questions and Answers |
Questions Posted by: Lee Thompson |
| Qn: Hello Dick, I am really concerned about council beach cleaning with tractors - from clean-ups on beaches our coastcare group are noticing that the tractors seem to just bury huge amounts of plastic at either end of the beach (where they turn around) and that lots is left behind despite the neat appearance of a beach looking as though it has been 'combed' - is this necessary? As a coastcarer and environmental consultant I wonder if you have noticed this also? And aren't there important ecosystems within the beach sand that are affected by the regular compaction with an enormous tractor? Or am I worrying for nothing? Ans: Hi Lee, yes I agree, Council beach cleaning tractors can be a bit of a hazard, particularly for bird nesting sites. I believe you have every right to be concerned and I reckon you should voice your concerns, as a Coastcare group, to your local Council. We had a similar situation at our beach and raised it with Council and they now longer clean the beach, which is a bummer, but we can't have it all ways I suppose. During the summer, our surf club's voluntary patrols usually clean up around our patch and that seems to work pretty well. Good luck with it and may I suggest getting on to your Council's environment section and discussing your plight. |
Questions Posted by: Melissa |
Qn:In what ways could the general public, coastcare groups etc be making a real positive impact, in your field of work/expertise? Ans:Just get involved in joining an environmental group if you're not already and contribute as much time as you are able. Qn:If you could change one thing tomorrow about the way our coastal systems and resources are currently managed, what would that be? Ans:Lobby/encourage all levels of government to direct more funding to educate business, industry and the community regarding better awareness of their impacts on the coastal zone and to also allocate funding to innovative coast protection projects, eg, stormwater retention approaches to direct that resource away from our coasts and gulfs. Qn:What are your major environmental concerns for our coastal and marine environments in the short and long term? Ans:Short term: human impacts. Long term: climate change and ensuing sea level rise. |
