On a wing and a prayer - saving Sunrise Beach's glossies

BirdCast

All over Australia land is being developed at an astonishing rate - that in itself is not surprising as we are a country in a national building mode - but what is shocking, and disappointing, is that in 2021 we, the trophy holders for most mammal extinctions, want to extend our extinction rates into other species, and continue to utterly destroy vital habitat, especially large trees, in our efforts to build human homes and facilities.
Councils, Cities and Shires will approve these developments; saying they are just a small habitat removal; not a significant size; but what they are failing to see is the big picture - all these small removals are cumulative.
We are most blessed in Australia to be home to an amazing array of stunning parrots, and one of these is the Glossy black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami) our smallest black cockatoo that now days is mostly living in eastern Australia.
The Glossy was once widespread across the whole of the south-eastern part of Australia, but it has become locally extinct in South Australia and only remains on SA's Kangaroo Island. You would think we would learn from this event.
Up in Queensland, in a most beautiful part of the world, in the domains of the Shire of Noosa, lies the beautiful beach side community of Sunshine Beach. (Seriously Google the place and see the phots for yourself!). Sunshine Beach has been developing (like the rest of Australia) and the area is in demand for obvious reasons, everyone who is anyone wants to have a piece of Sunshine Beach. So habitat for the indigenous animals of this Biosphere Reserve is reducing significantly and no "offset" planting is going to cut it for the animals that have more particular diets or those requiring old growth trees. The Glossy black cockatoo is one of those particular animals.
The glossy black cockatoo feeds off a particular tree, in fact almost solely on the seeds of casuarina trees in the genus Allocasuarina - in Sunshine Beach they eat A. littoralis. And to make their diet even more specialised, the seeds they eat only come from female Allocasurina littoralis trees!
And these are the exact trees that grow on a 5 hectare virgin bush block at Grasstree Court at Sunshine Beach - a block of land that has been purchased by the Uniting Church of Queensland to develop into an aged care facility and the land development was approved by a prior amalgamated Shire of Noosa.
Enter Spencer Hitchen - a 10 year old Wildlife Warrior supported by his mum, Maxine and the Glossy Team Sunrise, who as local down to earth citizens are trying desperately to negotiate a land swap that will be facilitated through the new Shire of Noosa and be between the Uniting Church and the Shire of Noosa.
The hiccup is the Uniting Church of Queensland has to approach the new Shire of Noosa, and this is Spencer's aim; to get the Uniting Church to see his, and other Glossy lover's point of view, that this 5 hectare property that the church owns is indeed precious, important and essential to the long term survival of the local Sunrise Beach glossy cockatoo flock.
Petition:
https://www.change.org/p/uniting-church-help-spencer-to-stop-the-church-to-save-our-glossies
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/maxine.hitchen.98
https://www.facebook.com/groups/glossyteam
Insta
savesunriseglossies
email:
[e-mail]