Local film-makers Terry Melvin and Laura Brearley tackle the contentious issue of sand mining in
Bass Coast’s last significant forest.
Bass Coast’s last significant forest.
By Catherine Watson
HOW do you compare sand worth tens of millions of dollars with the value of a forest? Jordan Crook of the Victorian National Parks Association doesn’t hesitate. “That woodland is worth more than any amount of money.”
Jordan's is one of the urgent voices heard in Terry Melvin's and Laura Brearley's new short film The Cost of Sand.
Last year the husband and wife film making team gave us a series of short films featuring Bass Coast’s special places. This year they’ve tackled the contentious issue of sand mining in Bass Coast’s last significant forest, between Lang Lang and Grantville.
HOW do you compare sand worth tens of millions of dollars with the value of a forest? Jordan Crook of the Victorian National Parks Association doesn’t hesitate. “That woodland is worth more than any amount of money.”
Jordan's is one of the urgent voices heard in Terry Melvin's and Laura Brearley's new short film The Cost of Sand.
Last year the husband and wife film making team gave us a series of short films featuring Bass Coast’s special places. This year they’ve tackled the contentious issue of sand mining in Bass Coast’s last significant forest, between Lang Lang and Grantville.
 | In just 14 minutes they lay bare the costs of sacrificing this fragile forest corridor to the voracious appetite for progress in the form of Melbourne’s Big Build. Jordan Crook, who recently completed a study of the threatened species that call these woodlands home, including powerful owls, southern brown bandicoots, and lace monitors, points out this is one of the most cleared bio-regions in the most cleared state in Australia. |
“Plants and animals and fungi that have survived to this point through colonisation are holding on in that little strip of vegetation.”
The film also features Dick Wettenhall, former professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Melbourne University, who talks about the forest as a complete ecosystem.
The film also features Dick Wettenhall, former professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Melbourne University, who talks about the forest as a complete ecosystem.
Greenhood orchid, Western Port woodlands. Photo: Geoff Glare “It's the interactions between all the microbes in the soil and the plants that are supported by the soil which interests me. The same orchids come up in the same patch every year at the same time … I think orchids are a litmus test for the health of the environment.”
Professor Wettenhall also raises concerns about dangerous chemicals used to process sand entering Western Port and affecting the mudflats.
“The reason why Western Port Bay is a Ramsar site is because of the health of the mudflats and that supports the life all the way up to all the nice birds that we love looking at. Anything that threatens the health of the mudflats threatens the survival of those wetlands.”
Kay Setches, legendary former Minister of Environment for Victoria, points out that the cost of trying to preserve a single endangered species is very much higher than the cost of preserving a forest.
“We have to call a stop now and really say, ‘What are the values of this woodland? What is it keeping alive?’ … We cannot have any more encroachment of it.”
Drone footage by George Papas and Mick Green shows the scale of the sand quarrying in remnant bushland, a devastation unknown to most locals until recently.
With a soundtrack by local musician Mark Finsterer to match the gorgeous scenery, and voiceover by Bryan Dawe, the film ends with a rousing call to action thanks to a choir of voices around the bay.
A great piece of campaigning film making that makes you want to join the fight. Share it with your friends at www.youtube.com/watch?v=YATfgXvdtJM&ab_channel=TerryMelvin
Professor Wettenhall also raises concerns about dangerous chemicals used to process sand entering Western Port and affecting the mudflats.
“The reason why Western Port Bay is a Ramsar site is because of the health of the mudflats and that supports the life all the way up to all the nice birds that we love looking at. Anything that threatens the health of the mudflats threatens the survival of those wetlands.”
Kay Setches, legendary former Minister of Environment for Victoria, points out that the cost of trying to preserve a single endangered species is very much higher than the cost of preserving a forest.
“We have to call a stop now and really say, ‘What are the values of this woodland? What is it keeping alive?’ … We cannot have any more encroachment of it.”
Drone footage by George Papas and Mick Green shows the scale of the sand quarrying in remnant bushland, a devastation unknown to most locals until recently.
With a soundtrack by local musician Mark Finsterer to match the gorgeous scenery, and voiceover by Bryan Dawe, the film ends with a rousing call to action thanks to a choir of voices around the bay.
A great piece of campaigning film making that makes you want to join the fight. Share it with your friends at www.youtube.com/watch?v=YATfgXvdtJM&ab_channel=TerryMelvin
