National Biodiversity Month
Key Issues in Australia’s Biodiversity
September 2000 Seminar Series
Hosted by
Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research
Expert speakers and panels of informed stakeholders discuss some of the major environmental issues of our time, followed by questions from the audience.
Wednesdays, 4pm, Discovery Centre, CSIRO, Black Mtn, Canberra
September 6 - GMOs and the environment
GMOs are one of the most hotly debated issues of our time. Experts talk endlessly about GMOs in our food, in agriculture and human health. But what about GMOs and the environment? What impact could they have?
SPEAKER: Mark Lonsdale,
CSIRO Entomology
CHAIR: Derek Anderson, Ex Pro Vice Chancellor University of Sydney
PANEL:
TJ Higgins - CSIRO Plant Industry
Craig Cormick - Biotechnology Australia
Graeme O’Neill - Science journalist
Paula Fitzgerald - Agrifood Awareness Alliance
Read the summary and view the Powerpoint presentation for this and following seminars
September 13 - Salinity and Biodiversity
We now have a horrifying estimate of what salinity will mean for loss of agricultural land and pollution of river systems. Will there also be an impact on our biodiversity? What can be done and who should do it?
SPEAKER: Greg Keighery (WA Dept of Conservation and Land Management)
CHAIR: Rosemary Purdie - Murray-Darling Basin Commission
PANEL:
Kevin Goss - Murray-Darling Basin Commission
Philippa Walsh - World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Leith Boully - Farmer, several govt. advisory committees
Anwen Lovett - National Farmers Federation (NFF)
Read the summary for this and following seminars
September 20 - Biodiversity credits – creating markets for ecosystem services
Carbon credits, salt credits and biodiversity credits are trading currencies with increasing prominence, fast becoming the basis of government policy. Is the developing field of trading in biodiversity credits a gamble? What are biodiversity credits and what will trading in biodiversity credits mean for the environment?
SPEAKER: Carl Binning (CSIRO Wildlife & Ecology)
CHAIR: Belinda Robinson (Environment Australia)
PANEL:
Read the summary and view the Powerpoint presentation for this and following seminars
September 27 - Invasive species
Countless species are transported around the globe everyday. Invasive species - including feral animals, weeds and marine pests - are a growing problem globally. Their impacts are huge and the problem needs to be tackled at global and local scales. How much do we value local diversity?
SPEAKER: Richard Hobbs (Murdoch University)
CHAIR: Denis Saunders CSIRO Wildlife & Ecology
PANEL: