Christian Environmentalist

Now there are two words you've probably never put together. And I wonder why? Other than not wanting to be too closely associated with the extremist tree-hugger types out there, it seems like an almost biblical concept. God created all of this and then pronounced us managers, right? At the minimum, we ought to at least express some concern when we see the environment being trashed, but I have yet to hear a sermon preached on the subject.

I spent today with a 72 year-old aboriginal elder named Marie. We walked around Fraser Island a bit, her home, and she relected on what human traffic has brought to the place. Not much of it was positive. Fraser is home to half of the world's perched dune lakes: fresh water suspended on a layer of sediment in the sand. Lake McKenzie (above) is one of these. It is a closed system, meaning that it is not spring fed. Water is added when it rains, and exits through evaporation. The water is actually quite acidic, but a few fish species survive in it. The problem is that hundreds of people, slathered in sunsblock and bug spray, swim in it every day, doing all kinds of damage. They get to the lake in trucks and buses, again not helping the environment.

I think I've mentioned the dingoes. Fraser is home to the last remaining pack of these purebred Asian wolves. A well-publicized dingo attack in '91, where a boy died, launched a movement to see the dogs exterminated. There have been a few minor bitings in the years since, and the Ministry of Parks and Wildlife (or sparks and wildfire, as they are affectionately known) seems bent on eliminating the animals. Problem is, we have found the source of the problem, and the problem is... us. People let their kids wander around the island, and you know kid and puppies. And they leave food scraps around, and you know food scraps and dogs. We need to exercise care around the dingos, but extermination seems a little severe, especially for an endangered species. It's kind of funny. They've erected cages around picnic areas, so tourists won't be harrassed by the dingos. I wonder if the dingos aren't silently amused at these cages we've built to contain the humans.

I can't help but wonder if there ought not to be a greater role for Christians to play in conservation. I'm not about to run out and join Greenpeace, but hey, didn't God give us a job to do?

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