
Before Jemima we had a beagle, Seren (Welsh for
"Star").
We got her as a puppy in March 1997. Here is a formal family
photo of us and Seren and Jemima taken by About Pets Photography
(ph.
07 3200 7313) in 1999. Here is a (poorer quality) action
shot of them having a game in our local park. To our great sadness,
Seren died on the 5th November 2001. Here
is a page about her written in the days following.
Although population growth is concentrated in developing countries, the growth in developed countries is also of concern because each extra person in a rich country causes, on average, considerably more damage than a person in a poor country. In this context, Australia has a high rate (higher than the global average) of population growth of more than 230 000 people per year due roughly equally to natural growth and immigration. This is especially undesirable because Australia's ecosystem is particularly fragile, as our continent is the driest and has the least nutrient-rich soils in the world.
As a result of these concerns, I joined Sustainable
Population Australia (formerly Australians for an
Ecologically
Sustainable Population) in 1992, and was
an active member of the South-East
Queensland Branch for many years.