Protecting Biodiversity for the Future Bill 2014 (Passed)

[Lumine]

Slot: 6 (General, exc. Constitutional Amendments, PPT Administered)

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Senator Polnut, as sponsor you have 24 hours to advocate for this act.

[Cassius]

I support much of what is in this bill, however, I would say that I'm somewhat leery 1b; are we really planning on reintroducing Grey Wolves across much of the country? Also, in my view, section 2 is far too punitive, and, in my opinion, is rather irrelevant to the rest of the bill.

[Deus Naturae]

Are there any specific biodiversity crises in Atlasia you believe require redress? I'd prefer not to hand out a large, arbitrary sum of money to the Regions for vague purposes that may not even affect each Region.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

There are multiple. I am happy to refine the language to make it more specific.

Without any question, the presence of invasive, pest or feral species are one of the biggest drivers of biodiversity degradation. It's estimated that their presence can impact the economy by billions each year.

I'll give you some examples. In Guam, 12 species of birds, than have a key role in the natural pollination process of a number of native plant species, have been made extinct by the presence of the brown tree snake. At present their further introduction is controlled by screenings of all incoming ships. But this process is expensive and the only current way of dealing with this out-of-control population of snakes, is baiting. This is not ideal and work needs to be done to find a way to not only manage the introduction of further snakes, but reduce the existing snakes and put in place measures to re-introduce bird species.

The zebra mussel - was originally spread through ballast water from ships in the Great Lakes. It is believed there is a direct correlation between these animals and avian botulism... this them impacts and has a negative impact on the native food chain. A lot of work has been done to manage this through manual inspections of shipping. But again, this is labor and resource intensive.

This also links to the issue of land management. Now, I understand some may think that the Government has no right to tell someone what they can and cannot do with the land. However, in rural and remote areas, one of the greatest risks to biodiversity across the nation is poor stewardship. One thing I can tell you from my own experience in this issue is that for a pest species, either flora or fauna to thrive, is to be left alone. Poor land stewardship is a genuine and serious problem and the regions need to apply more pressure to land-holders to ensure that they are not only doing the right things for themselves, but for their neighbours and their communities.

We also need to take more account of the impacts of human settlements in areas currently under biodiversity stress. Now, this means limitations on where people build. It's easy to dismiss as an "environment v the economy" thing. But it's not. At a time when we're debating the protections for farmers, too often we forget that farming is one of the biggest victims of poor environmental management.

I would argue to Senator Cassius that section 2 is strong, because it needs to be. The production of these products have wreacked havoc on the planet's most vulnerable species. Poaching of rhino horn and elephant tusk has devastated stocks in Africa to the point that there are believed to be six living white rhinos in the world, not six-hundred, not sixty... but six. The collapse of the tiger population across Asia is also directly linked to the poaching and by-product industry. Not only have these industries obliterated entire species and are on the cusp of doing so to more, they are often done in the most cruel of fashions. Locking a sun-bear in a cage with a permanent wound in its belly to collect bile, catching sharks, cutting their fins off while still alive then pushing them back into the sea without the capacity to swim or hunt, they slowly starve to death.

Also Senator Cassius, no one is saying that Grey Wolves should be released across the country to roam as they once did. But the reality is, for vast parts of this country, they are a natural part of the eco-system. And it should be down regional knowledge and interest to do that properly.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I don't have enough time to make a statement that will do justice to this issue but I will try to at least do something tonight.

I think it is very important that we preserve as much of our biodiversity as possible within reasonable limits and to a large degree we have made a lot of mistakes with development and wasteful land development. Many years ago I watched the movie Medicine Man with Sean Connery and in that movie he finds a cure for cancer in an Amazonian beatle, but a fire breaks out and burns down the whole section of the rain forest. I think we see that story playing out far too often and it is not just cures for illnesses that we are losing, but key lynchpins in the food chain that could spell out starvation on a mass scale and not just for us but numerous other species. We cannot hope to change natural processes, but we can limit the negative impact of our actions through conservative and smarter development practices.

The other side of this that has to be considered though is the structure and the consequences of that structure in terms of the economy. In that sense I share some of Deus' concern but would say also that a large broad mandate might not be generally very effective with regards to the issue at hand or achieve enough results to justify the economic loss incurred.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Again, assuming negative economic impacts is not the right way up approach this. Keep in mind that the impacts of invasive species impacts the national economy by BILLIONS each year.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Again, assuming negative economic impacts is not the right way up approach this. Keep in mind that the impacts of invasive species impacts the national economy by BILLIONS each year.

Like I said the lateness of the hour meant that I did not have time to produce a fully developed post. I have to work tomorrow and one of my anti-malware programs just trashed my browser history and the start menu.

I do agree, but we should still be careful not only for that reason but also to ensure we are achieving results with the actions we are taking.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I know this isn't particularly sexy as a topic but it'd be good to get some debate on this.

I've amended the Bill to tighten the language a little.

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[Lumine]

Senators have 24 hours to object to the amendment.

[bore]

Two things:

Firstly, this is becoming a habit of mine but I'd like to point out that once again the northeast has beaten us to this once again.

Secondly, I don't think the language in section 3 works. It seems to just ban the sale of any products from species that are endangered in atlasia, not in the wider world, so the rhino and tiger for instance wouldn't be affected.

So I'm proposing an amendment:

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[/quote]

[Dr. Cynic]

I don't consider myself an expert on this issue, so I'll lean on the familiarity of people like Senator Polnut. Senator bore's amendment is, I think a positive and I would hope that it's friendly. I will support this bill.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Senator Bore's amendment is friendly

[Lumine]

Very well, Polnut's amendment has passed (and Deus's will also pass in about an hour).

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Very well, Polnut's amendment has passed (and Deus's will also pass in about an hour).

Um... don't you mean bore's?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

So bore is a Polnut sock. That explains a few things.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I'm going to motion for a final vote shortly if people don't have anything more to add or ask.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Section 3? Do we not already have laws against such importation and if so, should they be repealed or altered?

[Lumine]

Very well, Polnut's amendment has passed (and Deus's will also pass in about an hour).

Um... don't you mean bore's?

Sorry, my mistake, xD (and yes, Bore's amendment has been adopted as well)

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Section 3? Do we not already have laws against such importation and if so, should they be repealed or altered?

I haven't seen anything alone those lines. We could add something along the lines that "this Bill will supersede any existing Federal legislation on this topic of endangered species by-product importation and/or sale"

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

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I'd like to include this as an amendment.

[Lumine]

The amendment has been adopted.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I motion for a final vote.

[Lumine]

Senators, a final vote is now open. Please vote Aye, Nay or Abstain.

[Dr. Cynic]

Aye

[bore]

Aye