Media release
2 June 2010
A barnacle that looks like the Sydney Opera
House? A pink fish that walks on the sea
floor? An outback ant that makes a tubular
home from spinifex
grass and red soil?
These are just some newly discovered Australian
species that are part of a new teachers'
resource booklet and competition that will
this week go to school children around the
country.
"Ahead of World
Environment Day on Saturday and in the International
Year of Biodiversity, we want to get kids
excited by the environment around them and
the discoveries still taking place today
of new plants and animals across our vast
continent," Environment Protection
Minister Peter Garret said.
"Australian scientists
including the team from Bush Blitz - which
I was pleased to launch earlier this year
- have nominated their Top 10 species from
the scores they've discovered and described
since last year.
"Inspired by Bush
Blitz, the Australian Science Teacher's
Association has developed lesson plans and
field trips so that kids get out into nature
and learn to look, feel, smell and then
identify native plants and animals.
"The kit will begin
to go into schools this week and will lead
to a national competition during National
Science Week in August, when kids will vote
online for their favourite new species.
"Prizes include
free trips to state museums and for high
school students, the chance to participate
in a real Bush Blitz field trip, working
with some of the country's top scientists."
Bush Blitz is a three-year
$10 million partnership to document the
plants and animals in hundreds of properties
across Australia's National Reserve System
of national parks and protected areas.
"This project is
all about inspiring the next generation,"
Australian Science Teachers Association
Chief Executive Officer Peter Russo said.
"Getting kids excited
about science and the environment through
activities like Bush Blitz means they'll
consider careers in this growing field.
"These kids will
be the ones who find new solutions to biodiversity
threats and climate change."
In the meantime kids
can check out the new species and find information
on how scientists discovered and named the
species online at www.bushblitz.org.au
The Bush Blitz partnership
is led by the Australian Government, Bhp
Billiton, conservation research group Earthwatch
and the National Scientific Reference Site
Network, part of the Terrestrial Ecosystem
Research Network. Also involved are CSIRO,
every museum, herbarium and government in
the country and dozens of Australia's top
scientists and volunteers.
+ More
Huge new SA conservation
reserve launched on the eve of World Environment
Day
Media release
4 June 2010
A huge outback property more than twice
the size of greater Adelaide has become
Australia's newest reserve, protecting much
needed habitat for species such as the magnificent
peregrine falcon and the vulnerable dusky
hopping mouse.
On the eve of World
Environment Day, Environment Protection
Minister Peter Garrett launched Witchelina
reserve. At more than 4,200 square kilometres,
it is the largest property ever purchased
for the National Reserve System through
Caring for our Country.
The Nature Foundation
SA bought the former sheep and cattle station
near Leigh Creek with private donations
and almost $2 million from the Australian
Government.
Minister Garrett said
Witchelina and the surrounding region had
been hit hard in recent years by drought
and feral animals, so the Nature Foundation's
rescue mission was a lifeline for native
species.
"This is tough
country and it's used to weathering extremes,
but without help Witchelina's habitat and
wildlife would have been in real trouble,"
Mr Garrett said.
"In this International
Year of Biodiversity, Witchelina is a much-needed
wildlife refuge in arid Australia, and I
applaud the Nature Foundation for rolling
up their sleeves to nurture it back to health.
"A decade of drought
has tested the resilience of this whole
region but recent rains have shown its capacity
to bounce back, and the Foundation will
carefully manage Witchelina through its
recovery.
"Witchelina helps
build a wildlife corridor from Lake Torrens
to the Northern Territory border, giving
native species room to adapt in the face
of a changing climate, fire and drought
and the world's first transcontinental habitat
corridor, from Port Augusta to Arnhem Land,
the Trans-Australia Eco-Link."
Witchelina's stony plains
shelter the leathery gibber dragon and its
red sand dunes are home to huge burrowing
frogs. River red gums and acacia scrub provided
habitat for rare species such as the nationally
vulnerable thick-billed grass wren and the
blue winged parrot which visits in winter.
Minister Garrett said
looking after vast stretches of habitat
such as Witchelina is vital in the fight
to protect our biodiversity.
"Like much of the
country, South Australia has lost many mammals,
birds and plants since European settlement.
Looking after struggling habitat is a vital
part of halting that decline," Mr Garrett
said.
"The new reserve
adds an extra 50 per cent to the amount
of protected habitat in one of Australia's
most under-conserved areas, the Flinders
Lofty Block bioregion, so it is important
on a national scale.
"I am delighted
that today, on the eve of World Environment
Day, we can officially declare 4200 square
kilometres of country part of our National
Reserve System. This is critical to helping
deliver on the Government's commitment to
expand the size of our protected area by
25 per cent by 2013, with a focus on bioregions
currently under-represented - like Witchelina."
Nature Foundation President
David Moyle said the Foundation would actively
manage Witchelina as part of Australia's
National Reserve System.
"As South Australia's
major nature conservation charity, our mission
is to protect and nurture South Australia's
bushland for future generations - so when
it comes to Witchelina we're in it for the
long haul," Mr Moyle said.
"We want to get
the property thriving and keep it that way,
and we'll be drawing on local expertise
to do it.
"Witchelina will
remain an important part of the local community
in its new role as a reserve. We'll be working
with neighbouring landholders to maintain
boundary fencing and establish effective
feral animal control and generally to discuss
the management strategy for the property.
"We are aware of
the significance of Witchelina to the Indigenous
community and we will work closely with
them in managing the property.
"Our first job
is to get an accurate picture of the species
at Witchelina so we can target our work
to protect them.
"We've had a great
offer of help from the Bush Blitz team,
who are sending up scientists later this
year for the first ever comprehensive survey
of Witchelina's rare plants and animals."
Bush Blitz is a $10
million partnership between the Australian
Government, BHP Billiton, Earthwatch and
the Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Network,
that sends research teams to document and
discover the species in the National Reserve
System.
For more about the Nature
Foundation SA visit www.naturefoundation.org.au
For more about the National Reserve System
visit www.environment.gov.au/parks/nrs
For more about Bush Blitz visit www.bushblitz.org.au
