Author: AWPC

Photo Credit: Stock Image from Freepik.com Share this page $13 billion, 30-year flop: failure to halt Murray-Darling River decline Habitat, wildlife survival, Indigenous cultural relations to Australia’s indispensable inland rivers and safe drinking water for river communities  are continuing to degrade according to an independent study assessing approaches to restoring environmental flows in the Murray Darling system. The following article by ANU ecologist Jamie Pittock also includes a video clip  of Indigenous bonding with the rivers and the loss caused by federal and state environmental mismanagement. Some A$13 billion in taxpayer dollars and 30 years of policy reform have failed to arrest the devastating decline in the health of Australia’s most important river system, the Murray-Darling Basin, new research shows. The four-year study released today involved 12 scientists from Australia’s leading universities, and draws on data from 1980 to 2023. It is the most comprehensive report card to date on government policies to protect the Murray-Darling. We found expensive and contentious reforms, including the once-vaunted Murray-Darling Basin Plan, have mostly failed to improve outcomes for people and nature along the river system. The result is deeply alarming for a natural asset so fundamental to Australia’s environmental, cultural and economic wellbeing. Here, we outline our findings, and present a plan to turn this situation around. The findings are alarming for a natural asset so fundamental to Australia. Shutterstock A river system in peril The Murray-Darling river system starts in southern Queensland, winds through New South Wales and Victoria and reaches the sea near Adelaide in South Australia. Historically, state governments have allowed too much water to be taken from the system, primarily to irrigate crops. This has caused extensive environmental damage such as toxic blue-green algae blooms, dramatic falls in bird and fish populations and undrinkable town water supplies, to name just a few. The damage has been exacerbated by invasive species, climate change, dams that block water flows, and bush clearing which makes water running into rivers more salty. What’s more, colonisation dispossessed the nearly 50 Indigenous nations in the basin. They now collectively have rights over less than 0.2% of surface water in the river system. Government reform to improve the health of the basin dates back more than three decades. In 1994, Australian governments agreed to cap further licenses to extract water from the Murray-Darling. In 2008, Prime Minister John Howard’s “once and for all” reform, known as the Water Act, became law. It aimed to reallocate water from irrigation to the environment. The reform is largely being implemented through the $13 billion Murray Darling Basin Plan enacted in 2012. The historic deal between state and federal governments was supposed to rein in the water extracted by farmers and make sure the environment got the water it needed. Almost $8 billion was spent implementing the plan to June 2023. But has this massive taxpayer investment delivered the promised benefits for people and nature? Our new findings suggest the answer is largely no. Despite massive taxpayer funds, the basin reforms have not delivered. Shutterstock Applying expert eyes When the basin plan was adopted, governments cut funding to the independent audit which monitored the river system’s environmental health. It was replaced with far less effective monitoring systems. The new systems did not set clear targets to be achieved, or assess real-world outcomes for people and the environment. For example, a government might measure the timing and frequency of water flowing at specific river locations, rather than the numbers of threatened fish species across the basin. The indicators are also complex and monitored by government agencies and their consultants, so the results are not independent. For this study, we developed our own monitoring system. It involved 27 indicators of success across the themes of Indigenous, environmental and social wellbeing, economic performance and compliance with water laws. We used publicly available data spanning more than 40 years. The study released today reports our essential findings. Scientists were concerned about inadequate monitoring of the basin plan. Shutterstock What we found Troublingly, we found that after more than a decade of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, 74% of success indicators were not met. This means there was either no improvement or worsening conditions. In particular, only two of 12 environmental indicators were met. Among our findings were: flows required to achieve environmental outcomes were not met at 65% of river gauge sites assessed water returned to rivers is not effectively used to restore the environment. For example, 79% of Commonwealth environmental water releases from 2014–19 stayed in river channels rather than spilling out to rejuvenate floodplain wetlands the abundance of waterbirds is declining and the incidence of very large fish-kill events is increasing, as witnessed at Menindee Lakes, NSW, twice in the past decade Indigenous rights over water are declining as a percentage of surface water, and water flows to Indigenous-controlled wetlands has not increased. This grossly inadequate situation prevents Indigenous Peoples from managing water on Country, harming their health and wellbeing the basic human right to access adequate, safe drinking water is not being met in many towns, including predominantly Indigenous communities such as Wilcannia, NSW. The findings are not all negative. We found irrigation communities are not necessarily suffering economically from federal government buy-backs of water entitlements. For example, the period of most water buybacks coincided with marked increases in profits for irrigated farms. The finding is contrary to claims in several studies, including one commissioned by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. Two environmental indicators show an upward trend. Populations of large-bodied freshwater fish are improving, coinciding with the end of commercial fishing. Pleasingly, nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in the Murray River have fallen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_c5DvmyN28A video outlining the importance of the Barka, or Darling River, to Indigenous people. What does all this mean? So what can we learn from these failures to ensure the Murray-Darling river system is brought back to health? In 2023, the federal Labor government enacted the “Restoring Our Rivers” laws, to increase the return of water to the environment.

Photo Credit: Maria Taylor © Share this page Positive Advice to Europe: Stop Horror Kangaroo Trade Respect iconic indigenous companion The battle to end Australia’s trade in kangaroo meat and skins – the world’s largest onland wildlife slaughter has landed in Rome as Italian parliament considers market ban. An Australian delegation arrived in October and included First Nations voices speaking for the kangaroo, a respected companion in their traditional lands. The delegation – organised by advocacy group Kangaroos Alive in time for World Kangaroo Day – aims to stop the trade in kangaroo body parts that finds a market in some European countries. Italian luxury brands have sworn off using kangaroo skin leather in the past five years. In the UK, wildlife advocates have stopped the trade in kangaroo meat and leather use for soccer cleats. Similar efforts are underway in other countries. Here below is Kangaroos Alive’s report on their trip. Watch the video for the First Nations’ perspective given at a press conference in Rome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu_V-MjcocI Peter Hewitt, a Jerrinja/Yuin man and member of not-for-profit Back to Country and Gumbaynggirr man Ricky Buchanan have been selected to represent Indigenous elders. Joining them on this delegation are Mick McIntyre, co-director of Kangaroo A Love-Hate Story and co-founder of Kangaroos Alive (KA), Dennis Vink from KA, and Mark Pearson, former member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Leading up to World Kangaroo Day next week this delegation is visiting several countries in Europe to advocate for a ban on kangaroo imports into Europe. KA has been working with Italian NGO ‘LAV’ on their “Salva Canguri” (Save the Kangaroos) campaign since 2019.The aim of the Italy campaign is: to obtain a national ban, through law, on the import and trade of products derived from commercial kangaroo killing. This campaign in Italy has seen great results with target companies adopting kangaroo-free corporate policies that have gone around the world (from Diadora – football boots – to Prada, Versace, Ferragamo .. and also, Gucci). Delegation members – Mick McIntyre, Simone Pavesi, Dennis Vink, Italian MP Eleonora Evi, Peter Hewitt, Ricky Buchanan, Mark Pearson. The delegation held a press conference with Italian MP Hon. Eleonora Evi (Democratic Party). The Italian parliament is due to consider a new bill that, if approved, will introduce a national ban on import and trade. The first signatory of the bill is the Hon. Eleonora Evi (Democratic Party); the bill was however signed by other Deputies from different political groups from left to right (Michela Vittoria Brambilla, Ilario Cavo, Noi Moderati; Susanna Cherchi, Movimento 5 Stelle; Beatriz Colombo, Fratelli d’Italia; Rita Dalla Chiesa, Forza Italia; Francesco Gallo, Misto; Simona Loizzo, Lega; Mauro Malaguti, Fratelli d’Italia; Gloria Saccani Jotti, Forza Italia). The aim of the press conference in Rome was to request the scheduling of the bill C.961 (Hon. Evi) and to approve it. Please support this bill by signing this petition: https://www.lav.it/stop-pelle-canguri

Share this page Poison alert and wildlife deaths We resist ‘vertebrate pest management’ in the backyard Love your native birds, possums, kangaroos, lizards? They say ‘think global act local’.  A spur to action came recently for my fellow AWPC committee member Joanna Pagan and myself. We witnessed calls for ‘vertebrate pest management’, aka spreading poisons, on rural residential blocks in our neighbourhood at the whim of individual landholders. As AWPC members we are focused on peaceful co-existence with our native animals, and concerned about traditional lethal methods of ‘managing’ the Australian environment and the cruelty involved.  We were told the main target in this case was rabbits. Really? a bit like throwing a cluster bomb at an ant hill. The poisons recommended, particularly 1080 but also the anti-coagulant poisons, pose deadly risks for native wildlife in our bush backyards. Those native animals are our neighbours and friends and we want a secure environment for them. Some native animals are directly targeted as ‘pests’ – from dingos in rural Australia to possums and wallabies in Tasmania. But many more marsupials, birds and lizards, (See the main Image) along with pet dogs and cats  are unintended victims when landholders and governments bait for rabbits and foxes, wild cats, pigs or goats. The victims eat baits or poisoned carcasses in the food-chain-fatality sequence that characterise these poisons that can go two and three generations. Data shows sheep, cattle and horses have also succumbed to poisoned carrots. We put together a short slide show focusing on the most heinous poison 1080, highlighting research that shows both what is targeted and what is at risk of being collateral damage along with background on 1080, a compound now banned in much of the world because of its toxicity and very cruel action, but used extensively in Australia. Click here for the slide show Animals targeted with poison in Australia This five-minute slide show is a useful educational tool and any reader here is welcome to use it for educating residents and decision-makers if ‘vertebrate pest management’ crops up in your community, or council area. The slide show was possible thanks to the research and education materials put together by Animal Liberation Sydney campaigner Alex Vince and the affiliated Coalition Against 1080 Poison. Alex has added more content to examine and use along with a plea to join forces here: Message from the Coalition Against 1080 Poison 1080 poison represents an animal welfare crisis in Australia, posing a significant threat to our wildlife and ecosystems. This highly toxic substance continues to be widely used in every Australian state and territory, despite being banned in many nations worldwide due to its inhumane and indiscriminate nature. To better understand the scope of this crisis and its impact on Australian wildlife, you can learn more about 1080 by watching this video podcast or visiting the Coalition Against 1080 Poison’s website today. It contains a range of resources, advice for how to tackle 1080 in your state, and ways you can take action today. Together, we can protect Australia’s wildlife by ending this animal welfare crisis. ALSO DEADLY  to our wildlife, especially birds. Second-Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs) are decimating birdlife, with an alarming number of tested nocturnal birds containing these deadly poisons. Animal Liberation’s ‘From Harm to Harmony’ campaign aims to ban the use and sale of SGARs in NSW. Take action to break this toxic cycle and create a safer environment for all creatures: www.al.org.au/ban-rat-poisons/#take-action

Share this page Open Letter To Federal Environment Minister – You Have The Powers To Protect All Native Species Open Letter To Federal Environment Minister – You Have The Powers To Protect All Native Species The Australian Wildlife Protection Council is dedicated to conservation of all remaining native Australian animals, and plants, to stem further loss and rebuild as possible Australia’s degraded ecosystems and biodiversity in a challenging age.“Native herbivores such as kangaroos and wombats play a vital role in ecosystem functioning but are often victimised and treated with a lack of concern because of socio-political factors and historical value judgements rather than heeding biological and ecological information,” wrote ecologist Dan Ramp in a paper examining the role of biodiversity in climate change adaptation.He’s referring to the lethal and ongoing removal of native herbivores from a landscape dedicated to grazing herds of introduced animals and to cropping. This status quo follows 200 years of habitat removal and the killing of some wildlife specifically as commercial product, for ‘pest management’ or recreational hunting. AWPC says an urgent review is needed to understand the benefits of conserving the remaining large herbivores and other native species not already endangered, in order to save remaining biodiversity. The AWPC committee reached out to the Commonwealth Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, and has the same message for state environment ministers. The message to Minister Plibersek was an opportunity at a call-out for solutions to the biodiversity crisis. AWPC said: You, Minister, have some unused powers, a pathway to conserve all our wildlife and flora. Don’t deflect with talk of States’ rights that prop up property rights that outbid conserving Australian nature – a formula proven disastrous for wildlife and biodiversity. Unwrap treaties signed by Australia that come with conservation obligations and use the powers you already have.AWPC President and environmental scientist Frankie Seymour unearthed hidden treaty and existing legislative possibilities and put them in context with current practice. AWPC sent the Minister the following summary along with an expanded submission. We now offer the summary as an open letter for all to consider. TO THE FEDERAL ENVIRONMENT MINISTER The Australian Wildlife Protection Council (AWPC) is glad of the opportunity to offer ambitious and innovative ideas to halt and reverse decline in our biodiversity. We are pleased to learn that the federal/ Commonwealth Government has committed to: reduce climate changing emissions by 43% by 2030, on a path to net zero by 2050, and to protect and conserve 30% of our land for the natural environment by 2030. We submit, however, that this is only a beginning if we are to have any hope of preserving the ecosystems on which all living things depend for our collective survival. A more comprehensive legislative approach at the federal level is needed to stem biodiversity decline. Such an approach is available, under the Commonwealth’s external affairs and corporations powers. Australia is a signatory to three international agreements which require us to protect our biodiversity: The Earth Summit, 1992, The Biodiversity Convention of 1992; and The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1992, all of which commit us to (among other things) the ‘Precautionary Principle’ – that means acting before species are threatened to stem further biodiversity loss. The Commonwealth’s external affairs powers enable the Commonwealth to comply with these agreements by making laws to protect biodiversity, over the heads of the States. The situation for Australian biodiversity, and the species that comprise it, is grave, primarily because most of our native species and ecological communities are currently virtually bereft of any protection under either State or Commonwealth law. Most of the animal species currently listed as ‘threatened’ are too reduced in numbers to provide any significant ecological services. It is the unprotected species that now provide most the ecological services without which ecosystems cannot survive. Functional ecosystems are, in turn, essential to the viability of vegetation sinks that provide carbon sequestration. Since all native species and ecosystems collectively constitute and individually contribute to Australian biodiversity, and to carbon sequestration, the Commonwealth should, in order to comply with its international agreements, use its external affairs powers by deeming all native species and ecosystems to be Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES). All native species and ecological communities are under threat from a multitude of anthropogenic pressures. On a precautionary basis, the Commonwealth should therefore deem and declare all native plants, animals and ecological communities comprising Australian biodiversity to be ‘threatened’, and list them accordingly for protection. Commonwealth law – via the Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act under the Commonwealth’s corporations powers – already requires the Commonwealth Environment Minister to take action that would protect biodiversity in particular circumstances. For example, by refusing to support a State wildlife management plan that breaches the requirements set out in the EPBC Act. The NSW Kangaroo Management Plan is one such example, now known to have breached EPBC requirements in a number of ways, and there is no reason to believe that other State kangaroo “harvesting” plans are any more compliant. No Commonwealth minister, required to review and authorise state plans, has rejected such a plan. Rather than just rubber stamp these plans, the Commonwealth Environment Minister can protect kangaroos and other biodiversity from State government management plans that breach the EPBC Act’s requirements, by scrutinising State government claims in regard to compliance, and by rejecting plans that breach the Act. AWPC believes that Australia needs to move away from lethal control of wildlife because killing animals is destructive to biodiversity that depends on their roles in ecosystems and cruel to the animals. We encourage reconciliation, respect and far better understanding of ecological roles held by fellow species on this continent. We urge the Minister to use her office to encourage a culture that is more respectful of Australian nature, and to consider how Australia’s current cruel and lethal culture vis a vis wildlife (and other non-human animals) might prepare for an international convention on animal welfare. RELATED STORIES: Why care about all

Share this page Propaganda & warfare against the voiceless Lethal disrespect for our fellow species in Australia “Sanctioning violence against other beings to achieve an end is neither ethical nor competent” Canberra-based Animal Defenders Office, May 2024.” * Animal-defence lawyers leveled this verdict on examining an ‘independent’ review that unsurprisingly gives high marks to the national capital’s kangaroo-killing program. The Australian Capital Territory government simultaneously kicked off another year of carnage in Canberra, the Bush Capital. Hired guns shoot adult and juvenile animals on city nature reserves (or the latter escape, traumatized, to possibly become road kill or fox food) and the contract killers are instructed to bash pouch joeys to death. They call it a ‘conservation cull’ – propaganda words to manufacture consent from the public. The ACT government’s ongoing program is part of the world’s biggest land-based wildlife slaughter. The combined goal? To make some agriculturalists and economic interests happy, to sell kangaroo skins and meat for humans and pets, and, as in Canberra, to remove kangaroo populations from the immediate environment.The violence inflicted on kangaroos and other Australian native animals since settlement is about disrespect and a refusal to co-exist peacefully and is backed by propaganda from major institutions to aid economic interests and private property control of the land since 1788. Click here for more info. Propaganda employs false narratives and demonizes ‘them’ to manufacture public consent for killing, possibly extending to genocide of the designated enemy. Sounding familiar right now? What happens in this wildlife space is not unlike the human-against-human use of propaganda backing bombs and bullets, brutality and collective punishment, against defenceless civilians in a ‘war’ waged for land, vengeance and religious ideology in Gaza and the region. Advocates and protesters on behalf of the victims are likewise demonized as ‘them’, bad people, to shut them up.Ethics, compassion and arguably good judgement are not part of this cultural formula. The fact that wealthy countries of the Anglosphere, notably the USA, UK, and Australia, have for many months defended their Middle Eastern ally’s tactics in this war – normalizing collective punishment as the strategy for their interests to win – reflects a familiar post-colonial mindset: this is what we do. How we do it in Australia Likewise, Australian state and territory governments aim weapons of war indiscriminately against some fellow species in the interest of land grabs, economic profit, or both. That means, bullets, poisons, blunt force trauma and denial of food and shelter on what was once the animals’ home ranges. In Canberra, the propaganda against kangaroo species living on urban reserves is sold to the public in a framework of ‘science’, the subject of above review.** For more than a decade the Canberra public has heard a revolving set of reasons from politicians and the territory bureaucracy – including inhouse and allied contract scientists – regarding why, really, those kangaroos grazing on reserves, (and delighting visitors) must be shot. One popular refrain: we have to kill them before they starve.  The narrative has now settled on the evidence-free claim that these marsupials damage the homes of other wildlife, when in fact the ecological truth is just the opposite. Likewise, Australian state and territory governments aim weapons of war indiscriminately against some fellow species in the interest of land grabs, economic profit, or both. That means, bullets, poisons, blunt force trauma and denial of food and shelter on what was once the animals’ home ranges. In Canberra, the propaganda against kangaroo species living on urban reserves is sold to the public in a framework of ‘science’, the subject of above review.   For more than a decade the Canberra public has heard a revolving set of reasons from politicians and the territory bureaucracy – including inhouse and allied contract scientists – regarding why, really, those kangaroos grazing on reserves, (and delighting visitors) must be shot. One popular refrain: we have to kill them before they starve.  The narrative has now settled on the evidence-free claim that these marsupials damage the homes of other wildlife, when in fact the ecological truth is just the opposite.   This sanitized, ‘environmental’ bit of propaganda against kangaroo populations has been exported to other states for wildlife management – adding one more excuse for lethal treatment to the widely-accepted thesis that there are ‘too many’ kangaroos and they are ‘pests’ that must be destroyed because they compete for grass and water. Those resources, since colonization, ‘belong to’ ag businesses, particularly those that graze sheep and cattle. The demonizing of native animals who try to stay on their home ranges, resonates throughout rural Australia and is readily accepted in cities too. And as cities expand, kangaroos are blamed for being in the path of more development. Turning the victims of the related warfare into shoe leather and petfood is a bonus industry. The Australian Wildlife Protection Council and its members fundamentally oppose as immoral and unethical (and incompetent to maintain biodiversity) a tradition of lethal management of Australia’s wildlife that evolved with British and European colonization of a biologically unique continent. The aim from the start was to ‘improve’ the nature of Australia for commerce, a back paddock of resources for the colonizing nation – accompanied by wholesale disinterest in understanding the ecological systems and the co-dependence of Australian fauna and flora. State and federal governments have led the charge on behalf of commercial interests and their long-held beliefs, setting dangerous examples for the public of disrespect and impunity to kill. There is much to catch up on – including an understanding of the key ecological roles played today in grassy woodland ecosystems by the remaining large kangaroo species, by wombats, and by some ground-dwelling birds, as other ‘landscape engineers’ have become statistics in Australia’s shameful extinction crisis. With another government reserve ‘cull’ in June and July, below is the Canberra story that we published in 2023 as part of a campaign to raise awareness of Australia’s horror show regarding kangaroos The essentials of this story, sadly, remain unchanged in

Share this page What this Brazilian learned about kangaroos Kangaroos have personalities and stay with or return to their home ranges.  These are some top findings about the nature and social behaviour of these unique Australians that informed a recent PhD by a Brazilian immigrant who did his research through the Australian National University. He went on to gain global applause for a joyful educational video that featured his findings scrolling across a foreground of humans dancing in a paddock while kangaroos appeared to look on in the background.   Kangaroo Time, the video made by Dr Weliton Menário Costa featuring his friends and associates, both human and marsupial, won the top prize this year in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Science Magazine and their partners Dance your PhD competition.  The competition challenges scientists to engage the public with their research using dance, music and humour.  Weliton, Weli to those who know him – with production assistance from ANU colleagues – created an engaging piece of communication, as you can see here.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoSYO3fApEc Weli also has a channel on YouTube “@WildWooHoo”, that he is expanding with a new website ‘Wildlife Chat’, thus continuing as a wildlife educator while he pursues a new direction as singer songwriter. So, what did he learn about kangaroos and how did he come to studying them?  Raised in a small conservative Brazilian community, (where he is now attempting to explain his research) he gained a scholarship with the ANU Research School of Biology.  He told us that he arrived with an already well-exercised interest in studying social animals. He spent three years on and off at a national park research site on Wilsons Promontory in Victoria where research amongst Eastern Grey kangaroos had accumulated 15 years of data and kangaroos were tagged for identification.  You could not proceed to conclusions without long-term data, he said. Weli told ANU media that his major research tools were a little remote-controlled car and “smooth jazz”, as well as his physical presence.  He observed different kangaroo behaviours in response to novel events: the car approaching, the music, and a human getting closer. Charting those behaviours for consistency led to theories about personality differences and how they played out within group social dynamics.    Kangaroo personalities Kangaroos have unique personalities that develop early in life and that influence behaviour. For example, being shy versus bolder in risky situations. Humans may have observed the bolder personality like this: taking a stand against an attacking dog, versus running away.  Siblings tend to have similar personalities, as do mothers and their joeys/offspring. However, the research concluded that when in groups kangaroos prioritise conformity with others in their behaviour and adjust democratically, as Weli put it “without bias towards, gender, age or extreme personalities.” With a nod to his own love of song and dance that influenced the prize-winning educational video, Weli offered a human analogy for a shy kangaroo adapting in a group. Look at a nightclub scene, he said: “You might see a guy sitting alone, looking quite shy, but then when his more outgoing friends come over to him, and they’re dancing, the shy guy behaves a bit more extroverted around them. Those friends may also reduce their energy to better accommodate their friend who doesn’t dance as hard.” https://science.anu.edu.au/news-events/news/kangaroo-personality-thing-heres-how-study-it Nevertheless, kangaroos with similar personalities tend to hang out together as they forage and continue to do so as they rotate frequently between groups in their range. This body of research over time has concluded group composition can change every 9.3 minutes to be exact. Home ranges are where kangaroos group In a chat for this AWPC article Weli said female kangaroos certainly have home ranges – born in one location and, (unmolested by humans), live there until they die. Some AWPC members, fortunate enough to live with wildlife, including myself, would have observed that of females. Males at age three start to move out and a few females would also migrate. But, he said, males will come back to the place they were born to find females to mate with. What drives the mob groupings that we observe is attachment to the home range. Contrary to (my) and other opinion, thisresearch found there is not an alpha male as such in a location. Dominance is only shown when there is something to fight for and usually smaller males will signal submission.  When a female is interested, there can be competition amongst her suitors, in some cases escalating to a full-on mating chase. In answer to the comment that we have heard females select the best suitor with the best genes, Weli said there is a theory that a physiological pathway may allow females to select which semen survives post copulation.     ‘Us and their group behavior: about Weli’s research, how theprize-winning video was conceived to mimic human and animal group behaviour here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U76WCw3dhw AWPC Note: Kangaroo Time was filmed on Mullangarri Grasslands nature reserve where, sadly, kangaroos are systematically shot and pouch joeys beaten to death in June and July by hired gunmen working for the ACT government, as elsewhere on Canberra urban reserves. Many compassionate human voices raised across a decade against this program have not yet stopped the killing.

Share this page Regional city invites back nature: birds, frogs, turtles, kangaroos, to wetland habitat They transformed the clay pits of a historic brickworks in the centre of Goulburn NSW into a wetland sanctuary next to the Mulwaree River. New homes for hundreds of birds, frogs, fresh-water turtles, Rakali the water rat and other wildlife, including tourist-attracting kangaroos.   The site was closed after WWII and had become overgrown with box hawthorn, blackberry and invasive grasses.    * One story on the transformation placed it this way: “Halfway between the Big Merino, which stands like a sentinel on the Hume Highway, and a supermax prison is a place known only by few.”  Not so unknown anymore – the wetlands were just filmed for a segment of Gardening Australia.   The restored “ponds”, and their riparian and woodland environment are there today thanks to a super successful grassroots project to bring back and enhance biodiversity to something like it was 200 years ago. A fortuitous turn in the weather in recent years from drought to plentiful rain also helped, filling the old clay pits. Maintaining the restored habitat as well as demonstration plantings of native flora, a landcare group of local residents gather as FROGS (Friends and Residents of Goulburn Swamplands). I met with Heather West, a retired primary school teacher and the President of FROGS, for a little photo tour that we’re sharing here. She told me how an inspiring community effort came about. In 2010, the abandoned brickworks were recognised by civic advocates as an opportunity to revitalise a neglected area at the foot of Rocky Hill, a landmark close to the city centre. Local environmental groups soon joined, lobbying both council and other community groups and the project gained grants from the NSW Government and local council. The transformation started with placing rock berms in the old clay pit pond, slowing the flow of water, so it could filter before re-entering the river. Walking and cycling tracks were established around the perimeter of the ponds. Goulburn Mulwaree Council engaged an archaeologist to prepare a report on the historic value of the abandoned brickworks which operated from the 1860s – 1945. As a result, the heritage industrial site has been preserved and replanted with grasses with signage telling the story. I asked Heather about the professional assistance that the community volunteers got on re-establishing the indigenous flora and fauna. She said the workforce knowledge and resources that some volunteers brought with them was invaluable For example, the contribution of the Southern Tablelands Branch of the Australian Plant Society [APS] that identified old-growth remnant riparian areas in the district for seed collection. APS has supplied almost all the tube-stock planted on the wetland site. “Some of these people were high school science teachers, some farmers and graziers.”  A local high school teacher Rodney Falconer (also a FROGS and APS member), prepared a comprehensive planting guide for the wetlands site. Some plants needed to withstand strong flood water movements, others around the ponds might remain inundated for longer periods, while steep areas dried out very quickly. Plants needed to attract birds, both seed and nectar eaters, as well as providing protection from larger birds. Water birds needed safe nesting cover.  Rodney had previously worked with the ACT Government and could identify every remnant native grass in the ACT area. Two FROGS members worked with the Sydney Water Catchment Authority, with expertise in plants, management of waterways and filtration of sediment and safe use of herbicides in riverside locations. Another ground-breaking volunteer was Peter Mowle, retired council engineer, who used his expertise in directing the survey of levels for the rock berms in the ponds, creating channels for road stormwater entering the site and ensuring floodwaters could return quickly to the river. A retired surveyor had also joined FROGS. Heather said many of the FROGS members are there because of an interest in bird-watching, bushwalking, biodiversity and sustainable ecosystems or gardening with native plants – or all of the above.  They all care about the natural environment “Our active volunteers are people who like outdoor work, enjoy mixing socially with like-minded people while working on a joint endeavour. We all have an interest in native vegetation, animals and reptiles. Some had interests in gardening, with a focus on permaculture to improve soil microbes and plant to minimise on-going maintenance. All volunteers learn skills from each other.” I asked Heather what rewards she personally has gained from this project. “I enjoy the friendships made with other volunteers who have similar interests. I have learned names of plants and birds and lead guided tours of the wetlands site to share my new knowledge. The lessons I have learned in methods for long-term weed suppression, to reduce on-going maintenance have been invaluable,” (and applied in her volunteer work maintaining two local historic cemeteries). Proud city ownership, promotion and tourism Goulburn Council that owns the site was supportive from the outset. Council provided a $25,000 donation for the initial infrastructure and provides truck-loads of mulch when requested. Heather said the Goulburn wetlands are now used in promotions for the city and the Visitor’s Information Centre sends tourists to walk the paths to observe the resident mob of kangaroos. Photographers and bird watchers from across the state and elsewhere visit thanks to regular up-dates on online web site e-bird https://ebird.org  showing that the wetlands attract much birdlife. A direct link to the data for Goulburn Wetlands is https://ebird.org/hotspot/L2557641 Local people exercise here or take a leisurely stroll, bird-watch and walk their dogs (on lead). Nature has been returned and is appreciated. Says Heather: “During Covid lockdown, when children were being home-schooled, we saw a huge increase in families walking or riding bikes around the wetland paths. People using the paths while the FROGS volunteers are at work, always call out ‘thank you, you’re doing a great job!’ which is appreciated by the regular volunteer workers.”  Garden clubs, schools and social groups as well as retirement village residents

Share this page RESPECT THE ANIMALS AND THE LAND Some of us at AWPC recently met Wahlubal/Bundjalong artist William Walker whose paintings speak to us on the themes ‘Respect Country’ ‘Respect the Land’ ‘Respect the Animals’.We asked William to please share more about this and about himself. Here, his words and paintings. Jingeela (Hello) Respect the Animals  The animals have roamed this country before we did. All animals are totems. When you hurt them, it hurts us. The animals are our best teachers, they are so in tune with the land. They warn us and teach us so much. Because of land clearing and greed, our animals lose their homes. This puts our eco systems out of balance. We need to respect the animals, only take what we need and allow them to breed. Our land needs to heal and rejuvenate.   Mother Gooramun Leading the Way Everything is connected through the circle of life. When we live in harmony with the animals and the land, caring and sharing, everything is kept in balance and is healthy. The animals teach us so much. The Gentle Mother Gooramun (Kangaroo), like all mothers, looks after her young joey so well and protects them from danger. She guides the joey till they are old enough to survive on their own. We need to Respect the animals and their homes.  I grew up on the Rocky River (Tabulam NSW). I started painting when I was 16. I paint landscapes. I always paint the country I come from, Wahlubal Country. When I paint, I feel Peaceful, Calm and Connected to my Ancestors. My paintings tell stories about what it was like back in the Dreaming, the Love of the Land, the Animals and the Culture. I hope my paintings will give people an understanding of what it was like back then and about looking after the country. The Best Classrooms “I love painting Wahlubal Country” “THE GWEARNJ (POSSUM) IS MY TOTEM PROTECTING ME. SHE COMES OUT AT NIGHT AND LETS MY FAMILY KNOW SHE IS THERE LOOKING OVER US” Garamah Bugelbah (Respect and Thankyou) Yarmboo (Later) William Learn more and contact William at   William Walker (williamwalkerrespectingcountry.com)