A concert calling for climate action will take over a South Coast restaurant this weekend, headlined by Sam Fletcher Band. Photo: Sam Fletcher Facebook.
Teenage conservationist Ned McNaughton often has animals on his mind – and in front of his camera.
“I’ve always really liked animals, since I was pretty little,” he said.
“I spend a lot of time out in the bush, looking for animals and photographing them.
“As you take more photos, you get to know the animals themselves, but I didn’t really expect it to get anywhere when I started to post photos about a year ago.”
The 16-year-old St Peter’s High School student will be one of the speakers at Rock On for Climate Action on Saturday (11 May).
He will be joined by fellow high school student Farrah Lawrun, GP and breastfeeding counsellor Doctor Michelle Hamrosi, as well as other speakers.
Sam Fletcher Band will headline the concert and be joined by local bands Ron Callaghan, Joint Custody and Flavum.
350 Eurobodalla secretary Allan Rees said people should not think of climate change as a problem that didn’t affect them.
“We think it’s the critical issue of our time,” Mr Rees said.
“So many of us experienced the shocking bushfires in 2019 and 2020,” Mr Rees said.
“Then, we saw the floods in northern NSW, cyclones in Queensland and bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef.
“Australia and the world face a desperate future unless we are successful in stopping emissions, drawing down carbon from the atmosphere by increasing our forests and moving to a renewable energy future.”
Mr Rees said that while the night would involve live music and activities for people to enjoy, the hope was it would inspire people to act.
“We want people to act with hope,” he said.
“We don’t want people thinking, ‘Oh dear, climate change is terrible but there’s nothing we can do’. There’s plenty we can do.
“There is hope we can do it. We have to believe that we can change the impacts we’re seeing.
“We’re acting on that hope.”
Attendees can also have a chat to members of 350 Eurobodalla and other South Cost environmental groups.
“People can learn about our work or join up to any of the climate actions that are taking place,” Mr Rees said.
Mr McNaughton said the goal of his speech was to make people think about the animals living in their backyard.
“I want people to be talking and thinking about these things, because that brings action,” he said.
“When something is on people’s minds, that spreads awareness about the important issues.”
Beyond the concert, Mr McNaughton said there was more work to come to protect South Coast animals.
“I spend a lot of time looking for owls – I spend a lot of time looking for those – and reptiles and frogs, as well,” he said.
“Around the Eurobodalla, there’s a few more native frog species that need a little more conservation efforts, like the giant burrowing frog and Watson’s tree frog.
“There are also mammals like the greater gliders and cockatoo and parrot species that need more conservation efforts.”
Rock On for Climate Action will be held on Saturday (11 May) from 5 to 9:30 pm at Smokey Dan’s, at 2152 George Bass Drive in Tomakin. Entry to the event is free, but you can register your spot via Humantix.
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