Howard Wiseman's Family and Other Interests

My Family

Currently, my family consists of me, my wife Nadine, and our twin fur-children, Finlay and Bailey, both bassets. Although they are from the same litter (born October 1997), we only adopted Finlay in September 2002, and Bailey some two years later. Above is a 2005 photo (Bailey on the left).

Before Finlay, we had another basset, Jemima (adopted as an 8 year old in October 1998). Here is a photo of Finlay and Jemima in the park, and here are the four of us in our back yard. Jemima died in May 2004. Here is our Farewell to Jemima.


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.

Population as an Ecological Issue

The human population of the world is now over 6000 million, and is increasing by about 70 million people per year (United Nations). Each extra person represents an extra burden on the global ecosystem. Each extra person consumes more food and water and other natural resources, which requires the destruction of more of the earth's natural environment to provide. Each extra person produces more waste, such as carbon dioxide, chemical and biological pollutants, which damage the ecosystem and may be causing gross climate change.

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.