Written by Lyn WhiteThursday, 07 January 2010 08:53
“Have we reached a tipping point in community attitudes?” Professor Glenn Albrecht, Dean of Murdoch’s School of Sustainability, asked the audience of a recent Murdoch University School of Sustainability lecture.
The subject of Prof. Albrecht’s question was Thornlie resident Richard Pennicuik, who has been living in a tree in his home street since early December 2009.
Richard Pennicuik in 'his' tree
Richard petitioned the City of Gosnells against removing over 20 native trees from his street but when council chainsaws started, he had no choice but to climb into his tree to remain until it was declared safe.
Neighbours and friends are supporting Richard bringing him food, water and clothing.
The City says it identified 22 trees as being possibly dangerous, mainly because of falling branches but according to Mr Pennicuik, the issue is one of taking a stand for personal choice and environmental survival.
“I don’t mind if other people want their trees down, but I like mine.”
Prof. Albrecht said this decision is indicative of an important social issue.
“This issue is global but also intensely Western Australian. We can have alternate pathways as outlined by Prof. Peter McMahon in the WA2020 vision.
“Richard Branson has offered a million dollars for someone to invent technology to take CO2 out of the air and mitigate climate change. Trees do that naturally. The technology is out there and proven to be safe over billions of years.
“How do we define trees as ‘potentially dangerous’?
According to Mr Pennicuik, two tree experts have declared his tree as nothing more than a perfectly healthy example ofEucalyptus melliodora.
“The council plans to replace the eucalypts with jacarandas, which are native to Brazil. Is this symbolic of the end of indigenous identity?” Prof. Albrecht said.
Mr Pennicuik said his tree has been visited by magpies and cockatoos, with a pair of black-faced cuckoo shrikes raising their young in it.
“The idea that other members of the community have come out to support this guy is interesting, maybe a sign that by 2020 we are going to see the emergence of a humanitarian ethic,” Prof. Albrecht says.
“Richard shows an unusual degree of fitness. There are few people who would be prepared to put their comfort and safety on the line to save a tree, so there is an ethic here of environmental philosophy.
“Here’s a man who felt a sense of overwhelming distress at the possibility that his tree was about to be removed. He’s not willing to be authoritarian and say I’m going to stop everyone else’s tree from being cut down, he just wants his tree. He’s defined it in a sense of his existentialist state and if it’s removed it will cause distress.
“The WA2020 vision takes us away from the simple acceptance of a globalised, homogenously bland environment and the extraction economy, and leads us to think about what it means to be a West Australian."
“With the publication of the Special Report by Prof. McMahon as part of the WA2020 Project and amazing stories in the WA newspaper about the ‘man in the tree’ we are moving in the right direction.
“The dedication and strength of will of people like the ‘man in the tree’ in Thornlie and Prof. McMahon at Murdoch University show a commitment to the sustainability of this place and share a vision for the future which is worth looking at.”
as posted here
I just wanted to point out that the Eucalyptus Melliodora isn't native to Western Australia anyway. It is native to the east.
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