Habitat Protection

An item from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy

------------------------------------------------

AWC secures Bowra for conservation

A world-famous bird watching property in Queensland was today announced as Australian Wildlife Conservancy's 21st sanctuary, ensuring the habitat for more than 200 species of birds and other native species will be protected for future generations.

AWC purchased the 14,000 hectare Bowra Station near Cunnamulla with $1.2 million from the Australian Government, Birds Queensland and Birds Australia and the help of generous AWC supporters.

Environment Minister Peter Garrett joined AWC Chairman Martin Copley and other locals and VIP guests to celebrate at the new Bowra Sanctuary today.

“This remarkable bird refuge is one of a kind and I’m delighted we could help protect it for future generations,” Mr Garrett said.

“The diversity of Bowra’s bird life is staggering – more than 200 different species, ranging from the pink Major Mitchell’s cockatoo to top predators such as the grey falcon.

“Bowra’s woodlands and deep waterholes are alive with rare species, including the vulnerable yakka skink, a range of river turtles and the tiny stripe-faced dunnart.

“This outback oasis feeds water to the iconic Warrego and Paroo rivers and lies in one of the most poorly conserved bioregions in the country, so protecting it is a big achievement.”

Australian Wildlife Conservancy founder Martin Copley said they received generous assistance from Birds Australia, the Bird Observer’s Club, Birds Queensland and AWC supporters around Australia to help protect Bowra.

“Bowra is known internationally as a ‘must see’ for bird-lovers visiting Australia and we look forward to it being a showcase for bird conservation into the future,” Mr Copley said.

“Education and research will be a big focus for the new sanctuary – we’re about to launch a baseline scientific survey of Bowra’s habitat and wildlife, and we’ll use the results to develop practical strategies to tackle feral animals, weeds and fire management.

“One of the things that first drew us to Bowra was its remarkable condition – it’s been carefully managed for decades by the one pastoral family, and we’re continuing to draw on their local knowledge and experience.”

Former owners Ian and Julie McLaren said Bowra has been home to five generations of the McLaren family, so the decision to sell was tough.

“Our family has cared for this spot for generations, and we’ve always known it was something special. Deciding to sell was hard, but offering it to the Australian Wildlife Conservancy felt like the right way to go,” Mr McLaren said.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wind turbine studies: how to sort the good, the bad, and the ugly

Image
Article  demonstrating the biased reporting of the Australian newspaper, from The Conversation By Jacqui Hoepner , Australian National University and Will J Grant , Australian National University Blowhards? The debate over wind turbines is heated, so it’s best to rely on solid science. Fir0002/Flagstaffotos/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-N Yesterday, The Australian ran a front-page article about what it called a “groundbreaking” new study on wind turbines and their associated health impacts. The study supposedly found a trend between participants’ perceived “sensations” and “offending sound pressure”. The Australian’s environment editor Graham Lloyd claimed the (non-peer-reviewed) study shows that “people living near wind farms face a greater risk of suffering health complaints caused by the low-frequency noise generated by turbines”, adding that it may help to “resolve the contentious debate about the health impact of wind farms”. Carried out by Steven Cooper of The Acousti
Read more

Globally thirteen of the 14 hottest years on record have occurred since 2001.

Image
  From the report in the Conversation   quote Globally  …... Thirteen of the 14 hottest years on record have occurred since 2001. That means that according to the Government’s advisor and probably many in the Government they would have us believe that the the people worldwide who keep these weather details have been conspiring to tell a lie for the last 13 years .  That is truly a remarkable achievement and must be brilliantly organised and without anyone of them spilling the beans.   Here is the article in full 2013 was Australia's hottest year, warm for much of the world By Blair Trewin , Australian Bureau of Meteorology ; David Jones , Australian Bureau of Meteorology ; Karl Braganza , Australian Bureau of Meteorology ; Neil Plummer , Australian Bureau of Meteorology , and Rob Smalley , Australian Bureau of Meteorology The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed 2013 as Australia’s hottest year since records began in 1910. Average temperatures over the continent
Read more