So, in my job I review a lot of reports assessing the environmental impacts of proposed developments -- hotels, resorts, golf-courses, mainly tourist-oriented stuff. Reviewing them usually frustrates me because they usually don't have any meaningful analysis of what effect certain types of development will have on the environment. They tend to be like, yeah, we'll be using poisonous chemicals that might seep into the groundwater and give people cancer, but golf is an important part of our economic development and tourist product, so let's build more golf-courses, yay!. Well, maybe not so simplistic and extreme, but along those lines.

Today I reviewed an assessment that was completely the opposite of that. It was written by a well-known local environmentalist and his love for the beauty of nature and concern about environmental protection is so very evident in the report. He writes about the marvellous beauty of the gully and the native ferns and the need to plant more trees and encourage the presence of birds and butterflies, and how the construction of intrusive buildings should be avoided. Technically, the report is probably a bit too flowery and subjective, I suppose, but it's a welcome change to read something about the environment written by somebody who actually seems to give a damn.