Science broadcaster Karl Kruszelnicki said on Wednesday people had the power to reverse the effects of climate change and we should stop looking to governments.
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Dr Karl said Australia’s natural resources were in good hands as long as groups such as Landcare were active.
“I’m giving three messages of hope,” he said.
“Number one: That global warming is fixable and in fact reversible. Number two: That each generation is smarter than the generation before it and number three, and you won’t get this from reading the newspapers: We are living in the most peaceful time every in the history of the human race.”
As a keynote speaker on day one of the NSW Landcare and Local Land Services Conference in Albury he was preaching to the converted.
More than 330 people registered for the three-day conference at the Albury Entertainmenrt Centre, with field trips to Wonga Wetlands, Woomargama Station, Lake Hume and Wirraminna Environmental Education Centre.
“We’ve got to be out there promoting new entrepreneurial ideas and involving industry and partnering with whoever wants something done,” Local Land Services acting chair of chairs, Richard Bull, of Holbrook, said.
“There’s a lot of industry organisations who are keen to partner with us.
“This is very much in its infancy and needs to be explored more but probably the way of the future is to partnerships.”
Dr Karl said farmers were among the smartest operators in business and they had to be constantly learning to keep the land productive and viable.
“Agriculture is not just some hillbilly in overalls chewing on a straw and growing some moonshine when the cops aren’t looking,” he said.
“It is dealing with truly complex systems and trying to juggle all that along with changing climate because the climate zone’s shifting, thanks to global heating, at around 500 kilometres per century, about 50 kilometres per decade, five kilometres per year.
“And dealing with that makes things hard so I’ve got great admiration for them under very circumstances.”
Riverina raised broadcast journalist, Wiradjuri man Stan Grant, was the second key speaker late on the opening day.
More than 30 speakers will lead a range of discussions on Thursday and Friday.
