Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/773562
maltatoday, SATURDAY 15 JANUARY 2016 38 BY MARC CASOLANI "GARIWERD", that's what the folk in the area call it. One of the four locations in all of Australia that you can find yourself walking above the clouds. It is also a major dreaming site to the Jardwadjali and Djab people. With its natural beauty and continuing aboriginal importance it is no wonder that it is on the list of National Heritage. Being anywhere within a 40km radius of the three main gateways to the Grampians will make you understand why this is an area of splendour and a rich geological landscape. Located North West of Mel- bourne, the Grampians ranges cover about 1,600 km² and its highest peak at Mt. William reaches 1167m above sea level. Most of the ranges are sandstone that has formed over around 40 million years. In my opinion this region has an insane layout thanks to its crazy evolution and has thus given us the opportunity to explore a variety of unique for- mations and paths that have all been naturally carved out. Places like Halls Gap, Hollow Moun- tain, Wonderland, the Pinnacles and many other areas within the Grampians are a hiker's, photog- rapher's, biologist's, geologist's playground. It's easy to say that you have a lot to see here and explore, but it's not easy to plan out your route and time is needed to see most of it, if not all. Take time to create a good plan before you go into the Grampians as you can easily get caught up in one area or end up being cut off to another area be- cause there is no direct access un- less you come from another side. Hall's Gap is the most popular area to enter as there are many of the easier accessible places to explore and a couple of the main attractions. It also has a very small town from where you can Travel EXPLORING AUSTALIA'S RAW BEAU The many radiating white petals with the distinctive yellow eye in the middle give this flower away as a daisy. But unlike the familiar shrubby garden variety, the annual daisy (M: bebuna) is a low, frail-looking, almost ground-hugging plant, and its flowers are small. To make up for the diminutive size, however, the annual daisy often grows in flourishing patches, so it will still catch your eye when you're out walking in the countryside at this time of year. The annual daisy is a common wildflower that is not tied to any particular habitat, growing just as happily in garigue and steppe as in the middle of a country footpath, especially if there's a bit of a shallow muddy depression where rainwater might collect and stay a bit longer. GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 443: DON'T PREHEAT THE OVEN: Unless you are making bread or pastries of some sort, don't pre-heat the oven. Just turn it on when you put the dish in. Also, when checking on your food, look through the oven window instead of opening the door. Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us. You can also support us by sending us a donation - www.foemalta.org/donate Text and photo Victor Falzon 540. ANNUAL DAISY Tax havens and financing climate action (continued) Business-as-usual is no longer an option. After more than twenty years of insufficient action on climate, carbon emissions continue to rise. We live in a world of unacceptable and growing inequality where nearly 1.2 billion people – or a fifth of the world's population – lack access to electricity and more than 2 billion people lack access to clean cooking fuels. Yet major corporations and the wealthiest 1% dodge paying their fair share of tax and pollute without limit. Tax havens or 'secrecy jurisdictions' are jurisdictions which, through deliberate legal loopholes, enable people or businesses to minimise or escape entirely the taxes they should pay on substantial economic activity. Tax havens undermine government's ability to address climate change, by dramatically reducing the revenue available to fund the transition to 100% renewable energy, provide access to energy and deliver public services that address inequality. Hundreds of billions of dollars are lost from public budgets each year, which has especially harmful effects on countries from the global South. Climate change is already happening – wreaking devastation on communities and ecosystems around the world. Without urgent and drastic action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, we face far worse runaway climate change, with impacts that would dramatically overshadow anything we see today. Exceeding climate tipping points will mean greater hunger, drought, floods and weather extremes – as well as mass extinctions and the forced migration of millions of people. Climate change hits the poorest and most vulnerable people hardest, people who did not create this crisis in the first place.