<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/16/fence-me-in-the-bold-plan-to-save-native-species-on-wilsons-promontory>
"Deep in the wilderness, surrounded by ferns and the calls of cockatoos,
Richard Marchant was so focused he didn’t realise three leeches were latched to
his face.
The ecologist had spent the day on his knees, searching for tiny invertebrates
carried by a stream winding through Wilsons Promontory, a 50,000 hectare
national park in Victoria, on the Australian mainland’s most southerly point.
When night fell, Marchant and his colleague Julian Finn used fluorescent lights
to attract rare bugs, which were catalogued to study the history of evolution.
The pair are among hundreds of scientists drawn each year to the park, which is
home to more than 150 endangered species.
Watching the ecologists was Mark Norman, the chief conservation scientist with
Parks Victoria, who abruptly stopped work after spotting a rare butterfly
flying over the stream. Marchant was summoned in his waders to identify the
species, net in hand.
Norman is responsible for protecting the endangered species, from eastern
bristlebirds and pygmy-possums to growling grass frogs and ground parrots. So
far, they have been spared the worst of human activity. But Norman is worried
by a different threat: the steady southward march of invasive species.
About 680 foxes, 320 cats and thousands of hog deer have moved through pastoral
land to damage the promontory’s waterways, strip its vegetation, restrict its
biodiversity and prey on native animals.
Norman and his team say they have thrown everything at the invading species.
Rangers have hiked deep into the wilderness to bait hundreds of cats. Traps
have been set. Helicopters have hovered just above treetops as gunmen shoot
deer darting through thick scrub. Now they are planning something much bolder.
“Everything is moving south with climate change,” Norman says. “This is the
place where you draw a line in the sand and say, ‘we are going to let things
persist here until we turn things around.’”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
