Rev Steve Francis, Moderator of the Uniting Church WA, alongside 22-year-old Alexandra Hutchinson and Hanamoa Vaitogi, member of Perth Samoan Uniting Church are encouraging church members to participate in the Global Climate Strike on Friday 20 September.
Three religious leaders, including a Uniting Church minister, and three lay people were arrested on Thursday September 5 at the site of Adani’s proposed Coal Mine in Central Queensland. Reverend Alex Sangster, Dharmacari Tejopala and Dharmacari Aryadharma refused a ‘move on order’ by police, along with Christians, Mark Delaney, James Thom and Angela Merriam.
Six other Christians joined them blocking work at the site and called on Gautam Adani to abandon the project. The group held a religious ritual of prayer and song in the direct route of Adani contractors preventing them from entering the workers’ camp.
Wednesday 28 August saw approximately 60 people gather at Nedlands Uniting Church to hear from key experts on WA Gas and its Climate Impacts. The event was co-hosted by the newly formed WA Chapter of Australian Religious Response to Climate Change (ARRCC) and Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA).
Both groups are committed to advocating for climate action in a non-partisan manner, with a focus on evidence and ethical practice. The focus of the evening was on Western Australia’s contribution to global climate change, and the unique role our state can play in reducing greenhouse emissions.
More than 150 religious leaders from across Australia have issued an open letter calling on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to recognise Australia’s moral responsibility to avoid climate catastrophe and halt all new coal and gas projects.
The religious leaders span the spectrum of faiths and include the heads of the National Council of Churches, Muslims Australia, the Uniting Church in Australia, the Federation of Australian Buddhist Councils, as well as the Grand Mufti of Australia, Bishops, senior Rabbis and leading theologians.
Plato advised: Leave it to the experts and Aristotle: Trust it to the wisdom of the people themselves.
The Progressive Christian Network WA conducted a very successful ‘Sustainability Now’ workshop at All Saints Floreat Uniting Church on 8 June. The inaugural event was dedicated to the First Peoples of Australia and the late Dr Bernard Bowen, a lifelong member of the Uniting Church, whose scientific legacy will benefit generations to come.
Over 70 people engaged with a range of eminent speakers.
Fr Rod Bower, activist and Rector of Gosford Anglican Church, set the religious theme with the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden as a sign that humankind was not to consume all that nature provides, to value the Sabbath for a sense of belonging to a wider community and the feeding of the five thousand; a story of creating abundance in the face of scarcity.
In Western Australia, we’re blessed to have some of the purest honey in the world. Our hardworking honey bees are free from a number of diseases that affect bees globally, including Varroosis, caused by the sucking mite, Varroa. This is one of the reasons why our state is on lockdown from fresh produce and other items coming in through the borders.
We’ve had a pretty good run over many years when it comes to WA honey, but that doesn’t mean we should become complacent about our bee population. A number of factors are creating huge concerns for our bees, which could have catastrophic consequences – far beyond diminishing our honey supply.
As we approach the second ever United Nations World Bee Day on Monday 20 May, Revive explores the complex world of bees in WA.
In our feature article this edition, Revive explores the importance of bees in WA. Keeping with that theme, Heather Dowling shares some handy tips for keeping our bee friends happy and healthy in our home gardens.
Attract bees to your yard with a native garden that flowers all year round. Not only will your garden look amazing, it’ll save water too.
Many native plants will flower over a few different seasons, or even all year. Try Bottlebrush, flowering Gum Trees, Woolly Bush, Wattle, Hibiscus or Lilies. Make sure you prepare the soil to your plants’ needs by clearing weeds and, if possible, installing trickle irrigation, so you don’t over or under water.
If you’re close to Perth, visit Kings Park’s Backyard Botanical Garden. It’s full of native plants that are easy to grow at home. Kings Park also run monthly Dig it With Coffee workshops, where you can chat with a horticulturalist about your native garden. If Kings Park is too far for you to visit, check out the Friends of Kings Park website for a wealth of gardening information, including a great searchable native plant database in their Plant Sales section. Visit friendsofkingspark.com.au.
Native bees love a good Bee Hotel! With native bushland being cleared more and more, our lodger bees may find it difficult to find places to nest.
Lodger bees love to nest in existing holes and there are lots of different species that you can help to find a home. For the curious minds, Bee Hotels are a great way to learn more about native bees and observe their behaviour – being careful to leave them to their own business.
Build a Bee Hotel by creating dry tunnels in wood or clay structures. This can be as simple as drilling some holes into a dry log, or as involved as building a fancy piece of art! Lengths of bamboo work well as tunnels, but avoid using chemically treated timber. Find out more about Bee Hotels and how to make one that will suit your garden at aussiebee.com.au/bee-hotel-aussie-bee-guide.html
Like all of us, bees need water. Leave a few small bowls of water around the garden that bees can access throughout the day, and remember to check them every now and then to make sure they’re clean and that they haven’t evaporated or tipped over.
Chemical pesticide or insecticide not only kills bugs and insects you might want to keep off your plants, it’ll kill our lovable bee friends too! It’s also been linked to Colony Collapse Disorder, where worker bees are so stressed they will abandon a colony and leave their queen and her young behind. Colony Collapse Disorder is currently not affecting Australian bees, and nor would we want it to.
While bee-friendly pesticides are being developed, it’s best to steer clear from chemicals in the garden, especially around the home. If pesticides must be used, don’t spray near water supplies, or directly onto flowering plants. Also, spray late in the evening after bees have finished their work for the day. This will give the chemicals a bit of time to dry up before the bees come back in the morning.
Faith leaders from different traditions in Western Australia have responded to the Federal Government’s Budget by calling for stronger, co-ordinated action on climate change from both Federal and State Governments, as well as industry and the community.
Leaders from more than five religious traditions met in Perth today following the handing down of the Federal Budget, to say that the Budget, as a statement of our national priorities, does not adequately address the climate emergency we are facing.
World Water Day is a United Nations observance highlighting the need for sustainable use and sourcing of water around the world. This year it is held on Friday 22 March. Heather Dowling shares these resources to help you stay informed.
In the week of Sunday 7 to 14 October, Christians from the Uniting, Anglican and Catholic Churches, as well as other traditions joined their efforts with a global faith-inspired response to the climate crisis. This comes as good news after the disturbing Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)special report, Global Warming of 1.5°C.
The report details how action to address climate change is urgent.