. . . as we all do, here are a few suggestions from National Geographic today:
HOW CAN YOU HELP AUSTRALIA?
TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2020
By George Stone, TRAVEL Executive Editor
The bushfires devastating huge portions of Australia are expected to burn for months, fueled by strong winds and extreme weather, leaving a staggering environmental toll. Our hearts go out to the people affected and the habitats erased.
As travelers—especially those of us who have marveled at the beauty of Australia—it's good to ask what we can do to help. Our partners at ABC News have suggested donating to Australian Red Cross' Disaster Relief and Recovery or to WIRES, an organization committed to wildlife in Australia; or you can donate to local fire brigades. To support people affected by the fires, Fast Company suggests donating to the Salvation Army’s disaster appeal or the bushfire appeal fund set up by the St. Vincent de Paul Society. The fires have made Australia's declining koala population even more vulnerable; consider a donation to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, which rescues koalas in regions across New South Wales.
Australia is among our favorite travel destinations; we recently included the state of Tasmania (which is now affected by fires) on our Best Trips 2020 list, and we have long celebrated the wonders of the continent, including the Great Barrier Reef, and supported measures to protect its treasures, including Uluru. It's not enough to love a land only when the sun shines. Now is the time to care for a faraway place as if it were our own backyard.
A personal update: Old-timers here will remember Mark Allinson. He lives in the southern NSW coastal town of Tomakin, one of the cluster of gorgeous places that you are seeing apocalyptic images of. He and his 95 year old mother were evacuated to the beach on New Years Eve, and were within two minutes of the deepest danger when the wind changed -- a southerly buster that drove the fire to destroy towns further up the coast. People in these small towns and villages have to boil their drinking water now. Water supplies have been "compromised" by the fires. Power and phone/internet reception is intermittent. Vehicles are driving up and down the streets delivering free water and bread and milk. Mark is safe for now. He saw this coming, and invested in a generator months ago. It's still really hard to think about all this, to keep it in your head, to talk about it.
These areas have been the inspiration for much of the poetry I've written. The south coast of NSW means the world to me. Over a year ago, a poem set right at the heart of the present fires was published by The Common, called The Meringo Hotel. You can google it or read it here:
https://www.thecommononline.org/may-poetry-feature/
Some of you heard me read it only a few months ago at our reading at the Newburyport Library. It's really my love poem to Australia.
Now, black eucalyptus leaves are falling from the sky there. It's going to take lots of work and time before things get back to some kind of normal on the Sapphire Coast, as we call it.
I live in southern Tasmania. And fires are burning in the north of Tassie. So far, the south is fire-free, although we're getting smoke haze from the mainland. And summer's barely begun.
If you can put something towards the recovery and restoration of all manner of habitats, please do! And thank you.
Cally