PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
| Rotary Environment Month "Crickets" is a term we often use to describe silence. And in many ways, that's what we hear these days when it comes to the environment: less noise, less urgency, less attention than the issue deserves. It was the absence of the sound of crickets and cicadas that stood out to me one evening in the middle of last summer. Where have all the insects gone? Also, where is the bird diversity that went with them? |
Not long after, some cricket chirping returned, and I did hear a few cicadas, but nothing like the deafening din they once produced in the leafy parts of Boroondara.
This led me to reflect on Australian scientist and writer Tim Flannery's book The Future Eaters, which I read in the early 1990s. Whilst not the main thrust of the book, part of his argument is that Australia is an old continent. Its soils are ancient, nutrient-poor, the climate is harsh and its ecosystems are relatively fragile. When we treat our environment carelessly, we see declining biodiversity, stressed waterways, and systems that increasingly rely on external inputs just to keep going.
We’re seeing that play out, both here and globally. Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent, with over 100 species already extinct. Insects—the foundation of ecosystems—are in decline. Globally, up to one million species are now at risk of extinction, with rates far beyond natural levels.
Closer to home, Victoria has warmed by around 1.2 degrees since 1910. We are seeing more extreme heat, changing rainfall patterns, and increasing pressure on natural systems. Our own State of the Environment reporting confirms that most biodiversity indicators are deteriorating.
None of this is abstract. It shows up in quieter backyards and less complex ecosystems.
These ideas came into sharp focus as I watched my children and grandchildren drive away after staying with us for Easter. What future will they inherit?
April is Rotary’s Environment Month. In some ways, it’s a bit like the return of the crickets. It's a reminder, a moment when the issue becomes audible again.
But like the crickets, it shouldn’t be something we only notice occasionally.
And if we’re honest, as a club we’ve been a bit quiet on this. Since some tree-planting projects a few years ago, the environment hasn’t featured prominently in Rotary Hawthorn’s work.
That’s not a criticism, just an observation.
If it matters, and it does, it’s worth asking how it finds its way back into what we do, not as a separate stream but as something that sits alongside our existing projects and partnerships.
Perhaps it starts with something modest—a small, practical project this year.
We won’t solve these problems on our own. But we can decide not to be silent.