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Volume 9, Wednesday, August 22, 2012
n c e e r e ff i D A e k a M d locally an
Arid Recovery celebrates 15 years By Vanessa Switala he Arid Recovery Reserve held their 15th Birthday Open Day Celebration on Sunday with many local families flocking to the significant event.
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Macca the Arid Recovery bilby with local children who found him using a radio tracking device. INSET: Arid Recovery’s Education and Community Officer, Hannah Spronk, singing happy birthday to Arid Recovery.
Arid Recovery (AR) officially celebrated 15 years of success and the science behind the reserve’s accomplishments at the end of National Science Week on August 13-19. The community were invited to learn about Arid Recovery animals, weeds and wildflowers with AR Scientific Field Officer Anni Walsh. The day also included nature walks and guided tours to learn about the history of Arid Recovery, and four-wheel-drive tag-along tours so people could visit parts of the reserve not often seen. Education and Community Officer Hannah Spronk said, “The (four-wheel-drive) tours were a success, a lot of local Roxby families enjoy getting out and exploring their surrounding environment.” She explained, “Having knowledgeable people to answer questions and point out things that most people would often miss makes it great for the whole family.” Ms Spronk said local volunteers who have been with Arid Recovery since its inception also came out to lend a hand for the day, taking guided nature trail walks, and sharing their stories and experiences over the last 15 years. “Without our volunteers we would not have had such a successful Open Day celebration, or have such a successful reserve,” she said. “There has been thousands upon thousands of volunteer hours put in to Arid Recovery, be they feral control, fence building, educational presentations to school groups or assisting with trapping programs. We appreciate each and every person who has contributed to the project, we wouldn’t be where we are today without them!” A big hit with the children was the ‘Macca tracker’ event where a radio-tracking device was used to play hide-and-seek with Macca the giant bilby. To top-off the afternoon an Arid
Recovery birthday cake was presented and children then added their handprints to the Arid Recovery wall of hands. The Arid Recovery Reserve first began in 1997 when the Reserve was 14 squared kilometres. Today, the reserve has grown to cover 123 squared kilometres. Many staff and much hard work has gone into returning the arid zone into a pre-European state. Sixty squared kilometres of the reserve is now free of feral animals and four native species have been successfully re-introduced. An ecologist at Olympic Dam, John Read, first conjured the idea of an arid zone sanctuary in 1996 when planning and researching began. “I still vividly remember in 1997 when I finally convinced my boss to support paying a major share in the initial 14 kilometre long fence,” Mr Read said. “We had secured support from both the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the University of Adelaide. His reluctant and muted response was ‘Go ahead with this but remember there will be no extra costs, no airfares, no lunches, nothing!’- with nothing underlined! A few years later the same manager was crooning about the success of Arid Recovery and I reminded him of his initial response - we both smiled!” After the eradication of feral animals came the re-introduction of threatened species that were no longer found locally. Arid Recovery staff identified animals once found in the region from a fossil deposit north of the reserve. Ms Spronk would like to say thank you to all who took part in the day. “A big thank you to all our volunteers that helped out on the day, we couldn’t have done it without you. We hope everyone who came out enjoyed the day and learnt a little bit more about Arid Recovery. Here is to another 15 years of protecting our arid zone!” To become a member contact the Arid Recovery Reserve on (08) 8671 2402 or by email at info@aridrecovery.org.au. Membership can also be obtained online at www.aridrecovery.org.au. Arid Recovery is a conservation initiative supported by BHP Billiton, the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural resources, the University of Adelaide and the local community.
Nominations now open to all businesses in Roxby Downs and Olympic Dam. Nomination forms available from Roxby Council, The Visitor Info Centre or www.roxbydowns.com
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Entries close: 21 September 2012