NATIVE forests create many benefits that humans rely on for a healthy life. Some important qualities include rainfall, oxygen, and biodiversity. But since colonisation, we have based the value of our forests only on their short-term economic wealth. This is clearly unsustainable. The Greens see our forests left alive as key to a healthy and prosperous future.

WATER really is life and without it plants and animals perish. The quality of water is also important for humans and non-humans from drinking it to irrigating our crops. The quality of our waterways also has downstream impacts that can destroy fragile ecosystems that humans use everyday for employment or recreation. The key to healthy waterways is to prevent pollution, erosion and disturbing natural environmental processes.

As a BEACH loving culture, the Coffs Coast has some of the best beaches in Australia. Many of us spend some portion of each day or week visiting the beach or ocean for employment or recreation. What happens upstream from our beaches affects the quality of our lifestyles. We all want our decision makers to respect our natural environment so that we don’t live in a degraded and polluted world.