By Margaret Maccoll
Spurred on by her 10-year-old son Spencer, Maxine Hitchen is calling on the Uniting Church to adhere to its own core values to preserve the planet and find a different solution to building its proposed aged care development that does not involve clearing significant Wallum habitat at Sunrise Beach.
For the past two years Spencer has been capturing the images of the Glossy Black Cockatoos that call the habitat home and documenting their movements.
The Glossy Blacks are a threatened species that are very selective in their habitat, choosing the Allocasurina littoralis trees on the development site to feed, roost, mate and educate their offspring. The first stage of the proposed Uniting Church development, that last year gained Noosa Council approval, will clear half of the glossies feed trees.
Maxine said Spencer’s interest in birds and other wildlife, particularly insects and spiders, was probably sparked by his bird-loving grandfather and became a passion about three years ago.
“He saw the glossies and has just fallen in love with them,“ Maxine said. “Wildlife and birds are a real passion. He’s been the driving force trying to save nature.“
Since joining a birding group and learning more about wildlife Spencer has begun teaching others through his photos, art and even talks about the importance of nature.
Mentored by bird enthusiasts Bob Carey and Tim Lennon Spencer can now distinguish the area’s 24 individual Glossies from one another by sight and even sound.
Passionate about photography Spencer takes photos of wildlife to identify the various organisms so he can learn more about them in later research.
“He said I think the birds are really important because everybody loves the birds. If they protect the birds they’ll protect everything else,“ Maxine said.
Spencer has already witnessed the destruction of habitat and loss of trees for other developments and asked his mother, “what about the ants, the spiders, even the fungi“.
Maxine said he understands people live in houses and his grandfather lives in a nursing home, all of which required the destruction of habitat, but wants people to be aware of the importance of habitat and recognise that “we could do it better“.
When he found out the home of his beloved birds was to be cleared Spencer asked his mum what they could do. “Can we buy the land,“ he said.
“I just felt I had to do something,“ Maxine said. “Spencer made me think I can’t sit back.“
As the development is a project of a Christian organisation and not undertaken by a business seeking financial gain, Maxine decided to appeal to the Uniting Church to act according to its values.
Maxine is herself a Christian with a respect for the church. Maxine noted the support the church displayed on its online sites for climate change action and the preservation of the planet.
“I thought if they think that way they must be going to think what they are doing here is contributing to killing the planet,“ she said. “I thought these are your core values.“
Spencer wrote his own letter to call for the area to be protected while Maxine contacted the church, requesting the significant piece of land be gifted to the community for preservation.
She has been told the project will be discussed at an internal church meeting next week.
Maxine said she was concerned at how Spencer and other local students will react if the trees come down. She said many students of the school that borders the habitat have learnt about the glossies and the significant environment.
“We are all responsible for what is going to happen,“ she said.
“We all have to put our hands up and say at least we tried our hardest. If the church can’t do the right thing, what hope have we got. They’re supposed to be doing God’s work.
“It’s important to work together to come up with a solution.“ Spencer hopes we can work together with the Uniting Church to save this vital Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat and not drive the already vulnerable bird species to extinction.
Over Christmas a temporary art installation of Glossy Black-Cockatoo feathers popped up on the corner of Grasstree Court at the edge of the proposed development and Spencer was there to capture it in his own thoughtful style. He used a grey scale in his images to show the life that would be lost if the glossies habitat was destroyed and the sadness he feels if this should be allowed to happen.
The feather installation was accompanied by a sign quoting a post on the Uniting Church Australia Facebook page. The post showed young members of the Uniting Church with a banner saying “Killing the Planet is Against Our Religion”. The installation’s aim was to create more awareness within the Uniting Church congregation coming together on Christmas morning.
