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UK Category: history
Extending AWC’s conservation model to pastoral land
At Bullo River Station, AWC and Bullo River’s owners, Julian and Alexandra Burt, entered into partnership to deliver science and conservation land management on a working cattle station.
The partnership protects a suite of threatened species in the area, and demonstrates that conservation outcomes can be achieved in tandem with a commercial and sustainable cattle operation.
The partnership has the potential to act as a catalytic model for wider application on commercial pastoral land.
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Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation (DAC) and AWC partner to conserve Dambimangari Country
DAC and AWC established a groundbreaking partnership, working hand-in-hand to deliver conservation land management (fire management, feral animal control and weed eradication) and science programs, in keeping with Dambimangari Healthy Country Plan.
Dambimangari Country sits at the heart of the north-west Kimberley and is a refuge for mammal species that have disappeared from other parts of northern Australia, including the Golden-backed Tree Rat (Mesembriomys macrurus) and the Golden Bandicoot (Isoodon auratus).
The partnership represents a new template for conservation on Indigenous land and enables Dambimangari Traditional Owners to generate an income for delivering measurable conservation outcomes. Key to the success of the DAC-AWC partnership is the recognition of the importance of mutual and respectful exchange of culture, Aboriginal knowledge, ecological understanding and contemporary science.
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Historic partnership with NSW Government to establish feral predator-free areas in NSW national parks
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and AWC established a historic public-private partnership, under which AWC is contracted to deliver land management services in the iconic Pilliga State Conservation Area and Mallee Cliffs National Park.
The centrepiece of this exciting partnership is the reintroduction of at least 11 threatened and locally extinct mammal species into two massive feral predator-free areas, as part of the NSW Government’s Saving our Species program.
At Mallee Cliffs National Park, AWC has established a 9,570 hectare feral predator-free area – the largest on mainland Australia. This project with the NSW Government represents one of Australia’s most ambitious rewildling programs.
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Working with the military to conserve biodiversity
AWC entered into an historic contract with the Department of Defence to deliver science and conservation land management at Yampi Sound Training Area (YSTA) – Australia’s second largest military training area.
YSTA is a hotspot for endangered and endemic wildlife, covering over 568,000 hectares of the western Kimberley. Central to the partnership is the involvement of Dambimangari People, Yampi’s Traditional Owners.
The partnership between a private conservation organisation and the military is the first of its kind in Australia, and provides a template for managing biodiversity values on military land around the world.
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Ambitious project to restore Central Australia’s lost biodiversity
In 2015 AWC launched one of the planet’s largest feral cat eradication projects, involving the establishment of a massive feral cat-free area.
The project is of global conservation significance, commencing with the completion of Stage 1. This 9,450-hectare fenced feral predator-free safe haven will provide a critical refuge for at least 10 threatened mammal species set to be restored here, including the locally extinct and endangered Mala (Rufous Hare-wallaby, Lagorchestes hirsutus; now returned to Newhaven), the critically endangered Central Rock-rat (Antina, Zyzomys pedunculatus) and the threatened Golden Bandicoot (Isoodon auratus).
Ecologists and conservation land managers have commenced assessment of Stage 2 that could potentially expand the project to 100,000 feral predator-free or controlled hectares.
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State-of-the-art research centre honours Sir David Attenborough
The David Attenborough Field Research Station was officially opened by the Western Australian Minister for the Environment, the Hon Albert Jacob MLA.
The station was named in recognition of Sir David Attenborough’s role in inspiring science-based conservation across the planet.
It is located in the rugged sandstone gorges of the Artesian Range, in a lost world – one of the last remaining areas on mainland Australia to have suffered almost no mammal extinctions. Here AWC researchers search to unravel the secrets that allow wildlife to persist in this remote part of the continent.
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Martin Copley passes away
On 30 July 2014, Australia lost one of its great conservation heroes and philanthropists when Martin Copley AM, AWC’s Founder and Chair for nearly 15 years, passed away.
Martin made an extraordinary contribution to conservation, providing individuals with the opportunity to help reverse the decline of Australia’s wildlife. Over the course of his involvement, Martin’s monetary input is estimated at $70 million, but no figure can be placed on the time and passion he poured into AWC and to safeguarding Australia’s wildlife for the future.
Few people have made such an immense contribution to conservation in this country. In 2010, Martin was honoured by being made a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to conservation and the environment.
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HRH The Prince of Wales becomes patron of AWC
HRH The Prince of Wales became AWC’s Patron. As Patron, The Prince of Wales highlights and promotes the globally significant efforts of AWC to halt the tide of extinctions in Australia and reverse the decline of native wildlife.
His Royal Highness is committed to conservation and has a long history of involvement and interest in environmental and conservation causes, helping to bring global attention to the plight of Australia’s threatened wildlife.
The Prince’s lifelong record of supporting conservation plays a vital role in raising awareness about the need for decisive and effective action to prevent further extinctions.
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Establishing Tableland Wildlife Sanctuary
Yulmbu Aboriginal Corporation and AWC entered into a historic agreement, supported by the Western Australian Government.
This agreement saw Tableland Pastoral Station subleased by AWC for conservation. This was the first time in Australia that an Indigenous community sub-leased land to a non-government organisation for conservation.
Tableland abuts Mornington-Marion Downs and together these sanctuaries protect threatened wildlife and habitat across a vast 872,000 hectares of the central Kimberley.
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Final fence posts installed at Wongalara
In late September of 2012, as the Top End temperatures began to climb, Wongalara Wildlife Sanctuary Manager Chris Whatley and his team completed the final stages of a 160-kilometre fence to protect more than 100,000 hectares of tropical woodland, wetland and rich riparian habitat from feral herbivores.
It was a historic moment, creating the largest feral herbivore-free area on mainland Australia. For the first time in over a century, a significant area of land in the Top End was free of large feral herbivores such as buffalo, cattle, horses and donkeys.
Established in 2006, Wongalara protects over 190,000 hectares to the south of Arnhem Land. Wongalara now forms one of mainland Australia’s three largest feral herbivore-free areas (feral herbivores are also functionally extinct are on parts of AWC’s Mornington-Marion Downs-Tableland Sanctuaries and at Pungalina-Seven Emu Wildlife Sanctuary).