24 minute read
Dr Mythri Shanka
The grim findings on Australia's deteriorating environmental health
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Climate change is exacerbating pressures on every Australian ecosystem and Australia now has more foreign plant species than native, according to the highly anticipated State of the Environment Report that was released in July.
The report also found the number of listed threatened species rose 8% since 2016 and more extinctions are expected in the next decades. The document represents thousands of hours of work over two years by more than 30 experts. It’s a sobering read, but there are some bright spots.
Australia has produced a national state of environment report every five years since 1995. They assess every aspect of Australia’s environment and heritage, covering rivers, oceans, air, ice, land and urban areas. The last report was released in 2017.
This report goes further than its predecessors, by describing how our environment is affecting the health and well-being of Australians. It is also the first to include Indigenous co-authors.
As chief authors of the report, we present its key findings here. They include new chapters dedicated to extreme events and Indigenous voices. 1. Australia’s environment is generally deteriorating
There have been continued declines in the amount and condition of our natural capital – native vegetation, soil, wetlands, reefs, rivers and biodiversity. Such resources benefit Australians by providing food, clean water, cultural connections and more.
The number of plant and animal species listed as threatened in June 2021 was 1,918, up from 1,774 in 2016. Gang-gang cockatoos and the Woorrentinta (northern hopping-mouse) are among those recently listed as endangered.
Australia’s coasts are also under threat from, for instance, extreme weather events and land-based invasive species.
Our nearshore reefs are in overall poor condition due to poor water quality, invasive species and marine heatwaves. Inland water systems, including in the Murray Darling Basin, are under increasing pressure.
Nationally, land clearing remains high. Extensive areas were cleared in Queensland and New South Wales over the last five years. Clearing native vegetation is a major cause of habitat loss and fragmentation, and has been implicated in the national listing of most Australia’s threatened species. 2. Climate change threatens every ecosystem
Climate change is compounding ongoing and past damage from land clearing, invasive species, pollution and urban expansion.
The intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are changing. Over the last five years, extreme events such as floods, droughts, wildfires, storms, and heatwaves have affected every part of Australia.
Seasonal fire periods are becoming longer. In NSW, for example, the bushfire season now extends to almost eight months. Extreme events are also affecting ecosystems in ways never before documented.
For example, the downstream effects of the 2019-2020 bushfires introduced a range of contaminants to coastal estuaries, in the first global record of bushfires impacting estuarine habitat quality.
The report's authors above from left are: Professor Emma Johnston, University of Sydney, adjunct Professor Ian Cresswell, UNSW Sydney and honorary associate Professor, Terri Janke, UNSW Sydney. Their article below is republished from The Conversation under the Creative Commons licence.
3. Indigenous knowledge and on-ground change
This includes traditional fire management, which is being recognised as vital knowledge by land management organisations and government departments.
For example, Indigenous rangers manage 44% of the national protected area estate, and more than 2,000 rangers are funded under the federal government’s Indigenous rangers program.
Work must still be done to empower Indigenous communities and enable Indigenous knowledge systems to improve environmental and social outcomes. 4. Environmental management isn’t well coordinated
Australia’s investment is not proportional to the grave environmental challenge. The area of land and sea under some form of conservation protection has increased, but the overall level of protection is declining within reserves.
We’re reducing the quantity and quality of native habitat outside protected areas through, for instance, urban expansion on land and over-harvesting in the sea.
The five urban areas with the most significant forest and woodland habitat loss were Brisbane, Gold Coast to Tweed Heads, Townsville, Sunshine Coast and Sydney. Between 2000 and 2017, at least 20,212 hectares were destroyed in these five areas combined, with 12,923 hectares destroyed in Queensland alone.
Australia is also increasingly relying on costly ways to conserve biodiversity. This includes restoration of habitat, reintroducing threatened species, translocation (moving a species from a threatened habitat to a safer one), and ex situ conservation (protecting species in a zoo, botanical garden or by preserving
In this report we document the direct effects of environmental damage on human health, for example from bushfire smoke.
The indirect benefits of a healthy environment to mental health and well-being are harder to quantify. But emerging evidence suggests people who manage their environment according to their values and culture have improved well-being, such as for Indigenous rangers and communities.
Environmental destruction also costs our economy billions of dollars, with climate change and biodiversity loss representing both national and global financial risks.
Climate change is hitting ecosystems hard
Previous reports mostly spoke of climate change impacts as happening in future. In this report, we document significant
Hundreds of thousands of fish in the Menindee weir pool and neighbouring waterways died in January 2019.
climate harms already evident from the tropics to the poles.
As Australia’s east coast emerges from another “unusual” flood, this report introduces a new chapter dedicated to extreme events. Many have been made more intense, widespread and likely due to climate change.
We document the national impacts of extreme floods, droughts, heatwaves, storms and wildfires over the past five years. And while we’ve reported on immediate impacts – millions of animals killed and habitats burnt, enormous areas of reef bleached, and people’s livelihoods and homes lost – many longer-term effects are still to play out.
Extreme conditions put immense stress on species already threatened by habitat loss and invasive species. We expect more species extinctions over the next decades.
An extreme heatwave in 2018, for example, killed some 23,000 spectacled flying foxes. In 2019, the species was uplisted from vulnerable to endangered.
Many Australian ecosystems have evolved to rebound from extreme “natural” events such as bushfires. But the frequency, intensity, and compounding nature of recent events are greater than they’ve experienced throughout their recent evolutionary history.
For example, marine heatwaves caused mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022. Such frequent disturbances leave little time for recovery.
Indeed, ecological theory suggests frequently disturbed ecosystems will shift to a “weedy” state, where only the species that live fast and reproduce quickly will thrive.
This trend will bring profound shifts in ecosystem structure and function. It also means we’ll have to shift how we manage and rely on ecosystems – including how we harvest, hunt and otherwise benefit from them. Including Indigenous voices
In Australia, a complex web of government laws and agreements relate to Indigenous people and the environment. Overall, they are not adequate to deliver the rights Indigenous people seek: responsibility for and stewardship of their Country including lands and seas, plants and animals, and heritage.
For the first time, this report has a separate Indigenous chapter, informed by Indigenous consultation meetings, which highlights the importance of caring for Country.
Including an Indigenous voice has required us to change the previous approach of reporting on the environment separately from people. Instead, we’ve emphasised how Country is connected to people’s well-being, and the interconnectedness of environment and culture.
Environmental management failures
Australia needs better and entirely new approaches to environmental management. For example, the inclusion of climate change in environmental management and resilience strategies is increasing, but it’s not universal.
As well as climate stresses, habitat loss and degradation remain the main threats to land-based species in Australia, impacting nearly 70 per cent of threatened species.
More than a third of Australia’s eucalypt woodlands have been extensively cleared, and the situation is worse for some other major vegetation groups.
Experts say within 20 years, another seven Australian mammals and ten Australian birds – such as the King Island brown thornbill and the orange-bellied parrot – will be extinct unless management is greatly improved.
Of the 7.7 million hectares of land habitat cleared between 2000 and 2017, 7.1 million hectares (93%) was not referred to the federal government for assessment under the national environment law.
Only 16 per cent (13 of 84) of Australia’s nationally listed threatened ecological communities meet a 30 per cent minimum protection standard in the national reserve system.
Three critically endangered communities, all in NSW, have no habitat protection at all. These are the Hunter Valley weeping myall woodland, the Elderslie banksia scrub forest, and Warkworth sands woodland. The bright spots
The report also highlights where investments and the hard work of many Australians made a difference.
Individuals, non-government organisations and businesses are increasingly purchasing and managing significant tracts of land for conservation. The Australian Wildlife Conservancy, for example, jointly manages some 6.5 million hectares actively conserving many threatened species.
By building on achievements such as these, we can encourage new partnerships and innovations, supported with crucial funding and commitment from government and industry.
We also need more collaboration across governments and non-government sectors, underpinned by greater national leadership. This includes listening and codeveloping solutions with Indigenous and local communities, building on and learning from Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge.
And we need more effort and resources to measure progress. This includes consistent monitoring and reporting across all states and territories on the pressures, and the health of our natural and cultural assets.
Such efforts are crucial if we’re to reverse declines and forge a stronger, more resilient country.
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KEEP LEGUMES, GRAINS & DRY GOODS IN PANTRY
Grains, legumes, and dry goods are your friends! Keeping legumebased pasta, dried legumes (such as lentils and kidney beans), and grains (like pearl couscous, quinoa, and rice) on hand is a super cool way to make protein-packed and easy meals. Plus, these items are not perishable! It's a great way to make meal prep easier as well.
realsimple.com
DON'T FORGET GROUND FLAXSEED & CHIA SEED
This is an easy way to make super-filling and nutritious meals. Flaxseed is high in nutrients, like omega−3 fatty acids, and chia seeds are high in nutrients such as fibre and calcium. Sprinkle them onto toast, into smoothies, sauté them directly into vegetables, and more! Plus, both can be used as an egg substitute when you're baking.
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A LITTLE BAKING SODA SPEEDS UP CARAMELISED ONIONS
Serious Eats found that you can make caramelizing onions more efficient by adding a pinch of baking soda to speed up the browning process. Because baking soda helps break down the pectin in the onions, this also makes their texture even softer in the end.
mashed.com
BOILING VEGGIES IN STOCK INSTEAD OF WATER
This is such a simple tip, it might seem silly — but it's also second nature to just turn on the tap when you need a liquid cooking medium for your veggies. In general, boiled vegetables tend to be less exciting and less nutritious (since many vitamins and minerals leach out into the cooking water), but sometimes it's an ideal method.
Swapping in stock or broth instead of using plain water adds a ton of flavour when you're slowcooking greens, boiling spuds for mashed potatoes, or braising carrots. When you use this trick for a recipe that originally calls for water, though, you'll likely need less salt in the finished dish. Be sure to taste your veggies before adding seasoning. You can also save your extra-flavourful broth that's left behind for a quick soup down the line; cool it and freeze it if you don't plan to use it within the week.
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COLLECT BASIC SPICES & HERBS
A meal can go from blah to ooo-la-la with just a few simple spices and herbs. Invest in the basic ones (garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, thyme, sage, cayenne pepper, curry powder, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, rosemary, dill, basil, oregano) to keep variety in your meals. And then start adding more to your collection. It will be fun! You can also look for seasoning blends to save time and money, as they have several ingredients in one bottle (i.e., Italian seasoning, Mexican seasoning, garam masala) It may be costly at first to collect spices, but there are always filling stations that offer bulk spices for cheap! Research your area for options. And keep in mind that one $4 bottle of spice can turn out dozens of delicious meals.
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A DASH OF VINEGAR
Adding a splash of vinegar to a pot of boiling potatoes helps keep their texture from turning to grainy mush, a great trick for potato salad in particular. On the advice of Serious Eats, "a tablespoon of vinegar per quart of water" is enough to keep potatoes from overcooking. Spiking your water with vinegar also keeps cauliflower bright white, a big bonus if you're using it on a veggie platter where pretty presentation matters.
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BUY IN BULK
In the bulk section, you can save money on spices, nuts, seeds, flour, nutritional yeast, dried fruit, beans, whole grains, and lentils. Also, look for larger volume of foods you buy frequently at a warehouse store, such as brown rice, soy milk, frozen fruit, and oats.
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GOT SOME GREAT TIPS TO SHARE? CONTACT ME AT CATHERINE@WHOLEFOODLIVING.LIFE
The Podcast selections below cover food and health issues and provide quick access to a deeper understanding of what whole food eating can achieve. Listening to podcasts on a regular basis is a great way to increase your understanding of WFPB and keep yourself on track. Atrial Fibrillation & Plant Based
Atrial fibrillation is one of the most common arrhythmias that people develop. The good news is that a plant based diet and exercise can reverse the risk factors.
The Science Behind Edibles
The first of a four part mini series from Kew Gardens. The Plant Based Podcast visits the edible science garden and gets chatty with Helena Dove.
Eating a Large Breakfast and Lunch
Dr. Hana Kahleov talks to Plant based Canada about her research into meal freqency and why eating a large breakfast and lunch is so important.
From Starving Actor to Plant-Based Superstar
Plant Centered Nutrition talks to JT an actor who turned around his high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes through diet.
The Genetics of Body Size
In this episode of Dr Yami's podcasts, Dr Giles Yeo describes the complexities around body weight and how the size of our body is influenced by our genes
Gut Health with Robynne Chutkan MD
Rich Roll talks with Gastroenterologist Robynne Chutkan who offers practical advice for optimizing diet, exercise, sleep, and time outdoors to boost the body’s defenses.
Natural Help for Gout: Try These Foods
Learn the best foods for gout relief and the ones that are most likely to cause a flare-up. Dr Neal Barnard answers your questions on the PCRM Pod cast "The Exam Room".
Fats, Sugar, & Metabolic Health
The Proof Podcast talks to Dr Richard Johnston on how diet affects the health & function of metabolism & the liver. Navigating where we agree & where our stances might differ.
The YouTube selections below cover a range of lifestyle, food and health issues. They include specialist tips and easy access to a deeper understanding of what whole food plant-based eating can achieve.
Toitū Te Whenua - Geoff Reid
A documentary exploring the BOP & Lakes District; the many pressures & challenges our natural environment faces. https://tinyurl.com/3u87dykh
Keto Diets: Muscle Growth & Bone
Dr Greger talks about Ketogenic diets can undermine exercise efforts & lead to muscle shrinkage and bone loss. https://tinyurl.com/bddbdn62
Tackling Diabetes with Dr Neal Barnard
100 million Americans are pre-diabetic or diabetic Dr Barnard identifies the causes of this serious issue. https://tinyurl.com/yucejrhp
Life Expectancy And Healthy Life
Dr Alan Goldhamer explains why there's a big difference between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. https://tinyurl.com/2s96rk32
Can Certain Foods Help Your Metabolism?
Dr. Hana Kahleova shares the latest science on a new episode of The Exam Room podcast! https://tinyurl.com/3nzpw933
Cardiologist Columbus D Batistetion
Vegan linked chats with cardiologist Dr Batiste on how lifestyle protecta againts our leading killers. https://tinyurl.com/4n57rpkx
Western Diet Killing Samoans
Dr Vermeulen attended a McDougall Weekend in 2012 to learn WFPB to take back to the people of Samoa. https://tinyurl.com/2p89fee8
Western Diets and Your Health
A new study links processed western diets to a rise in autoimmune diseases. Dr Brooke Goldner answers questions. https://tinyurl.com/mr3a379r
British family doctor Gemma Newman explores how a simple change in diet helps many common chronic illnesses - from diabetes and heart disease to obesity - and the science that explains why it works. Contains over 60 delicious meal ideas.
From the groundbreaking results of his twenty-year nutritional study, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn illustrates that a plantbased, oil-free diet not only prevents the progression of heart disease but can also reverse its effects.
This is a book that will let you live longer, reduce your need for medications, and improve your health dramatically. It is a book that will change the way you want to eat. Follow the Eat to Live diet, you will lose weight faster than you ever thought possible. Lisle and Goldhamer offer unique insights into the factors that make us susceptible to dietary and lifestyle excesses and present ways to restore the biological processes designed by nature to keep us running at maximum efficiency and vitality.
The film's companion cookbook, The PlantPure Nation Cookbook brings a powerful, science-based approach to nutrition from the big screen to your kitchen with some of the same mouthwatering recipes that kick-started a revolution.
Colin T Campell's Whole is an absolutely eye-opening, paradigm-changing journey through some cutting-edge thinking on nutrition. It is a scientific tour de force, that has powerful implications for our health and for the future of our world. T. Colin Campbell and his team at Cornell University, in partnership with teams in China and England, embarked upon the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease. Their results still astound.
Dr Dean Ornish's research has proven that lifestyle changes can reverse - undo! The progression of many of the most common and costly chronic diseases and even begin reversing ageing at a cellular level. Several insurance companies cover his programme.
Want to eat healthily, but worried it will cost too much? Looking to save on grocery bills, without compromising on nutrition value or flavour? This book will answer all your questions. Great if you need to keep the food bill tight. Great inspiration here. Why rely on drugs and surgery to cure you of life-threatening disease when the right decisions prevent you from falling ill to begin with? How Not to Die gives effective, scientifically proven nutritional advice to prevent our biggest killers.
Neal Barnard, MD, a leading authority on nutrition and health, offers insight into how dietary changes can alleviate years of stress, pain, and illness. What's more, he also includes delicious and easyto-make hormone-balancing recipes.
Before Dr Barnard's scientific breakthrough, most health professionals believed that once you developed diabetes, you were stuck with it. We know now that this is simply not true. Barnard has shown it is possible to tackle type 2 diabetes. Suzy Amis Cameron - environmental advocate, former actor, and mom of five, presents an easy guide for you to improve your health and shrink your personal carbon footprint. Just swap one meat- and dairy-based meal for a plant-based one.
Sophie Steven's stunning cookbook is packed with over 100 delicious, vibrant plant-based, gluten-free and refined-sugar-free recipes. Some great recipes and taste sensations to try. A book that will benefit the whole family.
Rip Esselstyn arms readers with the knowledge they need to win any argument with those who doubt the health benefits of a plant-based diet and to convince any number of curious carnivores to change their diets once and for all.
MILKED
Directed by Amy Taylor and presented by indigenous activist Chris Huriwai, MILKED has been racking up some massive viewing numbers worldwide. This Kiwi created doco takes a hard look at industrial dairy farming in New Zealand and shows how it 'milks' not only animals but farmers, consumers, rivers, the land and the climate. MILKED attacks the cynical marketing jargon used to hide the negative impacts of an industry many Kiwis have come to accept as one of the vital vertebras in the country's financial backbone. Available at: join.waterbear.com/milked
Forks over Knives
The seminal film of the WFPB movement that has impacted millions the world over. Forks over Knives examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the chronic diseases that afflict us, can be controlled or even reversed by rejecting animal-based and processed foods. Available on Amazon & iTunes
.The Game Changers
A documentary film that follows several elite vegan athletes. It gives a broad overview of the benefits of plant-based eating and contains great personality interviews with people that have made the change. A must for all sports coaches. Available on Netflix
The Big FAT Lie
Produced by Kiwi documentary filmmaker, Grant Dixon, this movie traces his efforts to discover why he wasn't told about problems with meat and dairy. If he'd known he could have saved himself a heart attack. He asks why he wasn't told about WFPB. On iTunes
What The Health
A 2017 documentary film which critiques the health impact of meat, fish, eggs and dairy product consumption, and questions the practices of leading health and pharmaceutical organisations. Is there a conspiracy here? Check it out on Netflix.
Diet Fiction
This film calls to attention the most popular diets on the planet and draws together several misconceptions about weight loss and nutrition. Filmmaker Michal Siewierski presents a punchy case and followed it up TakeOut. Bottom line message, go WFPB. View on Amazon.
Code Blue
Code Blue reveals lapses in the current state of medicine and provides a common sense solution by featuring the practise of lifestyle medicine to prevent, manage and reverse chronic diseases. It covers hurdles to such a change and looks at the barriers. View on Amazon.
Take a break
Healthy crossword
Across
1 type of tea (6) 7 Sandy ... p.26 (6) 8 opposing force (10) 12 painful affliction (4) 13 produce on farm (4) 15 ancient artefact (5) 16 young child (4) 19 Dr Bob ... p.42 (8) 22 charged particle (3) 24 Dr Mythri ... p.52 (7) 25 Australian bird (5) 26 perplex (7) 27 pull (3) 29 south pacific island (5) 30 Innes ... p.30 (4) 31 type of seasoning (8) 33 Sophie ... p.10 (8) 36 theft (7) 37 Dr Hana ... p.18 (8)
Down
1 ... Brown p.40 (4) 2 restore to zero (5) 3 Eric ... p.47 (5) 4 going without food p.18 (7) 5 close (4) 6 usa author Harriet Beecher ... (5) 8 edible stem p.55 (7) 9 type of vegetable (11) 10 tart (4) 11 ... change p.56 (7) 14 grown without chemicals (7) 17 concealing under ground (6) 18 hot drink (5) 20 rubbish (5) 21 female hormone p.44 (8) 23 today (3) 27 ... Te Whenua p.41 (5) 28 male offspring (3) 32 new guinea river (5) 34 slumber (5) 35 thyriod disease p.10 (6) 38 body joint (3)
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Recipe index
54 17
13 37 49
STARTERS | IDEAS
Smoky Spinach Cream Cheese.................13 Spiced Cauliflower.......................................16 No Oil Baba Ganoush.................................21 No Oil Potato Flatbread.............................21 Vege Stock.....................................................23 Cultured Soy Sour Cream...........................33
MAINS
Moroccan Kūmara Nuggets........................12 Wholesome Hempseed Tabouli.................12 Roasted Eggplant Dahl................................14 Caesar-Y Salad...............................................17 Mexican Stuffed Potato...............................28 Smokehouse Chopped Salad......................29 Lemon Asparagus..........................................37 No Oil Mushroom Gravy.............................37 Kumara Mash................................................37 Oil Free Hashbrown.....................................40 Potato Leek And Carrot Soup....................45
SWEETS | DESSERTS
Crepes With Apple Cashew Cream.........48 Wholemeal Fruit Slice.................................49 Apple Cinnamon Bread...............................54 Stewed Rhubarb And Apple......................55
Tried our Recipes? Show us your creation! Mention @wholefoodliving.life and tag #wholefoodliving.life
WFPB's Food Groups
Based on the guide developed by PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) in 1991
FRUIT
3 or more servings a day
Full of vitamin C and beta carotene, fruit is also rich in fibre. You should include at least one serving of fruit per day. Fruits are full of flavour, make a welcome afternoon filler and are great as a night time desert. They're best eaten whole because your gut benefits from their soft fibre.
Serving sizes: 1 medium piece of fruit, 1/2 cup cooked fruit, 4 ounces juice.
LEGUMES
2 or more servings a day
Beans, peas and lentils are your key source for good fibre, protein, iron, calcium, zinc and B vitamins. In this group you can also include items such as chickpeas, baked and refined beans, soy milk, tempeh and vegetable protein.
Serving sizes: 1/2 cups cooked beans, 4 ounces tofu or tempeh, 8 ounces Soy Milk.
NUTS AND SEEDS
1 or more servings
Serving: 1/4 cup nuts or seeds
WHOLE GRAINS
5 or more servings a day
The wholegrain list is large. Here is a sample: barley, freekeh, whole rye, brown rice, oats, wheat, buckwheat, bulgur, quinoa, whole wheat couscous, corn, millet. Build meals around hearty grain dishes. They’re rich in essential fibre, complex carbohydrates, protein, B Vitamins and zinc. Great for breakfast.
Serving sizes: 1/2 cup hot cereal, 1/4 cup dry cereal, 1 slice bread
VEGETABLES
4 or more servings a day
Vegetables are your essential nutrient injection. Dark green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, collards, kale, mustard and turnip greens, chicory or bok choy are all good sources of important nutrients. They provide vitamin C, beta-carotene, riboflavin, iron, calcium, fibre and more. Extra beta-carotene comes from dark yellow and orange vegetables such as carrot, squash, sweet potatoes and pumpkin. Don’t be afraid to eat generous amounts. Load up your plate!
Serving sizes: 1 cup raw vegetables, 1/2 cup cooked vegetables
