Beta
Communicating the plight of the pardalote
Bruny Island
Bruny Island is absolutely pivotal. It's about working together, getting the landholders on Bruny Island working together, being aware of the bird, not cutting down firewood and not taking out old trees.
This is what excites me, because people can be doing actions now while we most desperately need them, not waiting another 30 years until it's too late.
We're seeing such a resurgence with programs on Bruny Island, through the local communities. Projects like the Men's Shed, the Bruny Island Environment Network, the Friends of Bruny Island, North Bruny, South Bruny - everybody is coming together. All the fabulous work at Inala Nature Tours and by Tonya (Cochran) and so many great people pulling together - it's an inspiration really.
We have been talking about the partalote for a long time, but the story just gets more exciting and more interesting the more information we gather. And when it's passed on to people in more accessible ways through journalism, media, good news stories - these stories can be communicated to not just the people of Bruny Island, but to all of Tasmania and all of Australia.
These days it's very rare for endangered species to have stories of hope. Stories that communicate that survival is possible, that it can happen on your block of land, and stories about how people can play a pivotal role.
This is a bird that belongs to not only Australia nationally, but it's a global gem.
It's also about communicating the importance of money. Money is so desperately needed to fund actions. Volunteers give so freely of their time, but money is needed to pay for people's fencing for the plants that we need to regrow.
There are so many stories, the beautiful art, the pottery, the badges, the beautiful children's storybooks, the t-shirts, it goes on and on. The imagery that I see now from wildlife photographers that come from all over the world to capture this bird - all of those stories are culminating in showing the world why this little bird is so important and so worth saving.
I am seeing change and particularly in younger people, I'm seeing such hope. I'm seeing such enthusiasm and a can-do attitude which is really exciting.
On a lot of my bird walks I have young people that really know how to use binoculars. They've got their apps and they totally have a can-do attitude. They're not prepared to take the old rhetoric of the past. They want to act now, it's just gobsmacking and it's exciting.
I love seeing that happen because it's those networks and those new and fresh ideas that will really keep the story of this bird gathering momentum. I do feel a change.
I feel a change with the planting work that's happening on Bruny Island at the moment. At last it's getting recognition from state government and national government. I mean, at last we're getting people on the island able to plant trees and get a bit of assistance for fencing.
At last we're getting some covenants to protect habitat in perpetuity. So I am seeing a lot of great stuff happening. But it does also need ongoing funding and it needs some key actions in place to keep that momentum going from strength to strength.
That's why I'm hanging in there to plug a few more pieces into the jigsaw, so that we can lock in the survival of this little bird for decades and generations to come.
Actions needed probably fall into two categories. One, is that tried and true habitat protection is the first plank of conservation of any species. So protecting habitat - we really just need to keep plugging away at that.
I would really like to start shifting birds around starting some new populations in safe locations. When you're down to two locations of a species' entire global distribution, you are at high risk.
I'd really like to start practicing our skills on relocation and establishing new little populations. We've got some terrific work on the feather dispensers and the nest boxes. Honing our skills on designing nest boxes, that are completely fool-proof for other species and are really good for pardalotes, is another innovation we could be doing.
We need to be developing formulas that can mimic manna. We have insectivore mixes, we have artificial foods for a whole range of species. There's real capacity there.
We can't just keep doing same the old. We have to move forward. Having said that, protecting our habitat and keeping up monitoring - those two planks will hold us in good stead and add to all those new exciting things, to build a great story of survival.
Dr Sally Bryant
Bruny Island is absolutely pivotal. It's about working together, getting the landholders on Bruny Island working together, being aware of the bird, not cutting down firewood and not taking out old trees.
This is what excites me, because people can be doing actions now while we most desperately need them, not waiting another 30 years until it's too late.
We're seeing such a resurgence with programs on Bruny Island, through the local communities. Projects like the Men's Shed, the Bruny Island Environment Network, the Friends of Bruny Island, North Bruny, South Bruny - everybody is coming together. All the fabulous work at Inala Nature Tours and by Tonya (Cochran) and so many great people pulling together - it's an inspiration really.
We have been talking about the partalote for a long time, but the story just gets more exciting and more interesting the more information we gather. And when it's passed on to people in more accessible ways through journalism, media, good news stories - these stories can be communicated to not just the people of Bruny Island, but to all of Tasmania and all of Australia.
These days it's very rare for endangered species to have stories of hope. Stories that communicate that survival is possible, that it can happen on your block of land, and stories about how people can play a pivotal role.
This is a bird that belongs to not only Australia nationally, but it's a global gem.
It's also about communicating the importance of money. Money is so desperately needed to fund actions. Volunteers give so freely of their time, but money is needed to pay for people's fencing for the plants that we need to regrow.
There are so many stories, the beautiful art, the pottery, the badges, the beautiful children's storybooks, the t-shirts, it goes on and on. The imagery that I see now from wildlife photographers that come from all over the world to capture this bird - all of those stories are culminating in showing the world why this little bird is so important and so worth saving.
I am seeing change and particularly in younger people, I'm seeing such hope. I'm seeing such enthusiasm and a can-do attitude which is really exciting.
On a lot of my bird walks I have young people that really know how to use binoculars. They've got their apps and they totally have a can-do attitude. They're not prepared to take the old rhetoric of the past. They want to act now, it's just gobsmacking and it's exciting.
I love seeing that happen because it's those networks and those new and fresh ideas that will really keep the story of this bird gathering momentum. I do feel a change.
I feel a change with the planting work that's happening on Bruny Island at the moment. At last it's getting recognition from state government and national government. I mean, at last we're getting people on the island able to plant trees and get a bit of assistance for fencing.
At last we're getting some covenants to protect habitat in perpetuity. So I am seeing a lot of great stuff happening. But it does also need ongoing funding and it needs some key actions in place to keep that momentum going from strength to strength.
That's why I'm hanging in there to plug a few more pieces into the jigsaw, so that we can lock in the survival of this little bird for decades and generations to come.
Actions needed probably fall into two categories. One, is that tried and true habitat protection is the first plank of conservation of any species. So protecting habitat - we really just need to keep plugging away at that.
I would really like to start shifting birds around starting some new populations in safe locations. When you're down to two locations of a species' entire global distribution, you are at high risk.
I'd really like to start practicing our skills on relocation and establishing new little populations. We've got some terrific work on the feather dispensers and the nest boxes. Honing our skills on designing nest boxes, that are completely fool-proof for other species and are really good for pardalotes, is another innovation we could be doing.
We need to be developing formulas that can mimic manna. We have insectivore mixes, we have artificial foods for a whole range of species. There's real capacity there.
We can't just keep doing same the old. We have to move forward. Having said that, protecting our habitat and keeping up monitoring - those two planks will hold us in good stead and add to all those new exciting things, to build a great story of survival.
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