HEARTLAND: Celebrating Fifty Years of the Australian Conservation Foundation

HEARTLAND

HEARTLAND C E L E B R AT I N G F I F T Y Y E A R S O F T H E AU S T R A L I A N C O N S E R VAT I O N F O U N DAT I O N

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Echo Publishing 12 Northumberland Street, South Melbourne Victoria 3205 Australia echopublishing.com.au Part of the Bonnier Publishing Group www.bonnierpublishing.com

Introduction copyright © Australian Conservation Foundation, 2015 Photographs copyright © individual photographers, 2015 Foreword copyright © Michael Leunig, 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

First published 2015 Printed in China Printed on paper from FSC certified forests and plantations

Cover and internal design by Philip Campbell Design All photographs by MAPgroup

Front cover image: Peter holding an emu egg, Mutawintji National Park, NSW, Krystal Seigerman/MAPgroup Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following pages may contain images of deceased persons.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Heartland : celebrating fifty years of the Australian Conservation Foundation / Australian Conservation Foundation ; foreword by Michael Leunig.

ISBN: 9781760065836 (hardback) Australian Conservation Foundation--History--Pictorial works.

Nature conservation--Australia--Societies.

Nature conservation--Australia--History.

Other Creators/Contributors: Leunig, Michael, 1945- writer of added text.

Australian Conservation Foundation, author.

333.7206094

Opposite: Mount Hotham, VIC, Brent Lukey/MAPgroup Previous pages: Cameron Corner, QLD, Andrew Chapman/MAPgroup 5

L O V E O F N AT U R E F O R E W O R D B Y M I C H A E L L E U N I G

It is essential to our health as individuals and as a species that we love nature. Even better if we understand and appreciate it deeply in detail, and enjoy it thoroughly and respect it utterly.

Better still if even the tiniest part of nature brings us to wonder and innocent enchantment; the joyous primal feelings we may recall from childhood.

Such reverence for the natural world is most alive in us when we clearly see and acknowledge that we are not outside of nature looking in, but are indeed part of it and that in fact we actually are nature. This realisation is a bit like the idea of a car driver who, thinking of themselves as ‘stuck in the traffic’ suddenly realises that they are the traffic. A sobering sense of responsibility awakens.

Indeed we are nature, and we do well to consider that when the natural world is out of balance, unwell or under threat then the human psyche is probably also suffering in resonance as part of this broader malaise, whether we know it or not. If the forests are dying then a part of us is dying or in grief. If the wilderness is shrinking then our inner life is in decline – for what is the realm of our spirit and imagination but a great mysterious wilderness within – an elaborate and sensitive ecosystem of the soul or psyche that we may degrade and destroy or else nourish and protect as we choose.

To see her harmed by callous disregard is therefore a deep hurt and cause for despair. To see nature repaired and thriving is to feel joy and awe – and the sense that all shall be well. We flourish where nature succeeds.

There can be little doubt, however, that we are witnessing a massive violent onslaught against the natural world by the forces of human ignorance and greed; all carried forth by war, commerce and ideology. Humanity as part of abused lopsided nature is unwell and behaving foolishly and self-destructively. Much has been lost or damaged, including, to a considerable degree, the human sense of beauty and love – and a coherent intelligent sense of life’s meaning.

But sit quietly and stare aimlessly out to sea, wander in a forest, eat a delicious salad, work in your garden, float on a river, listen to the oratorio of morning birdsong and there you will find all the ancient irrefutable arguments for peace and the re-naturalisation of self and human culture on earth.

If you’re wondering about the meaning of life, it’s right there before you – and inside you. It’s nature. It’s the great beautiful common cause. Know it, love it, enjoy it – and do all that you reasonably can to rescue and protect it; but don’t delay.

This human nature might be poetically described as being like the forests, the weather, the seasons, the tides, the creatures or a huge productive garden of creativity. It can also be a source of pain and danger that is better understood than ignored or denied.

Such a description need not be as strange or absurd as it may first sound, but rather a huge relief – like the relief of homecoming, of reconciliation, of making sense of things, of finding the long lost mother, brother, child or lover; and the relief of grounded humility and surrender when we discover that our species is not the centre of the universe and not the most valuable and amazing thing on the planet. This humility is the most insightful position from which we might love the earth and be loved by it, and integrate joyfully, solemnly and with gratitude into the great ecosystem which our forebears sometimes called ‘the creation’.

Gratitude is the appropriate way, for mother nature supports us all and provides what we need to live: the air, the food, the vital elements and the materials with which cultures are built and sustained. She holds us reliably, and beyond the material world, provides a treasury of nourishing mysteries to inspire humanity in the realms of art, philosophy, music, science and love. She is the great teacher, the wise healer, the divine muse, the miraculous beauty.

Opposite: Merri Creek, VIC, Helga Leunig/MAPgroup 6

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CONTENTS Foreword by Michael Leunig 6 Australian Conservation Foundation: Our Story 11 A place to nest 13 The distance 41 Magical and dangerous 81 Wonder up close 107 Sweeping and pounding 135 The salted wind 169 The ground I stand on 191 Acknowledgements 221 MAPGroup 222

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AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION: OUR STORY Our story began fifty years ago with a visiting Englishman.

Francis Ratcliffe was born in India and studied zoology at Oxford, before coming to Australia in 1929. He believed there were three major issues facing humanity: conservation, atomic war and racism.

As Francis travelled across the country conducting ecological experiments for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the land got under his skin. In a letter to his family he wrote, ‘the more I looked, the more I realised that never in my life or dreams had I been in such incredible country’. Our magnificent country had enchanted him and he ended up living permanently in Australia.

A few years later, in 1963, Prince Philip expressed interest in setting up an Australian branch of the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). The prince asked the WWF’s Ian McPhail to visit Australia and find out how to raise funds for African conservation. Fortuitously, Ian met with Francis. Francis was worried that there was not a single national body concerned with Australian conservation. Rather than setting up an international organisation, he argued that we needed a national entity. To that end, he brought together his CSIRO colleagues, conservationists and community leaders to set up a wholly Australian body.

The Australian Conservation Foundation was born.

Our first president was Sir Garfield Barwick, then Chief Justice of the High Court.

Inspiring leaders, such as Nugget Coombs and Peter Garrett, followed. And all the time, our community kept growing.

Since our inception we have been a part of every significant environmental victory. We fought to make our beloved Great Barrier Reef a national priority. We campaigned for the creation of Kakadu National Park. We refused to let Tasmania’s ancient forests become woodchips. We joined forces with farmers to form Landcare. And we stood proudly with Traditional Owners in Cape York when their country was returned to them. We’ve helped city folk recycle, and power their homes by the sun. Wild rivers like the Franklin remain free, while working rivers like the mighty Murray are being restored to health. Sea life, found nowhere else on the planet, now finds refuge in marine parks that encircle our nation.

We did not achieve these things alone. We have done it with the support of our community, people from across Australia and beyond, who generously give their time, money and commitment. The donations we receive allow us to continue being fiercely independent in protecting the air, water and natural beauty for all living things; both now and for the generations to come.

Our achievements are your achievements: own them, be proud of them.

We deeply thank those who have gone before us and those who walk with us now. To you we make this simple promise: we will continue to strive to protect our beautiful land. We will never give up.

Kelly O’Shanassy Chief Executive Officer

Fifty years on, we remain as committed as ever to our cause. We are nature’s advocates. We love our magnificent country and we’re here to keep it safe and healthy because, after all, it’s our home.

Opposite: Karijini National Park, WA, June Orford/MAPgroup Previous pages: South Gippsland, VIC, Brian Carr/MAPgroup 10

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A P L AC E TO N ES T

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Above: Pambula Beach, NSW, Brent Lukey/MAPgroup Opposite: Mutawintji National Park, NSW, Krystal Seigerman/MAPgroup Previous pages: Mount Hotham, VIC, Brent Lukey/MAPgroup

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To understand the stars would spoil their appearance.

Patrick White, Voss

Opposite: Flinders Ranges, SA, Julie Bowyer/MAPgroup 16

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Left: Inverloch, VIC, Jaime Murcia/MAPgroup Opposite: Noosa, QLD, Helga Leunig/MAPgroup 20

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Mallacoota, VIC, Brent Lukey/MAPgroup

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Mount Hotham, VIC, Brent Lukey/MAPgroup

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My mother was a black duck. She disobeyed her parents and one day rode the wild rapids of our river to come to the still pool beyond the furthest known bend. That is where, slinking in the shadows, playing in the margin between land and water, equally at home in both, that is where she met my father, rakali, the water rat.

Maya Ward, A Wurundjeri Riddle, adapted from a story by Ian Hunter

Left and opposite: Central Victoria, VIC, Julie Millowick/MAPgroup 24

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Above and opposite: Toolangi Forest, VIC, Brent Lukey/MAPgroup

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Above: Central Victoria, VIC, Julie Millowick/MAPgroup Opposite: Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, VIC, Krystal Seigerman/MAPgroup

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With each step the landscape unfolded and named itself. The man’s voice could be heard singing out-of-tune songs. It all belonged to him.

Murray Bail, Eucalyptus

James Price Point, WA, Silvi Glattauer/MAPgroup One Tree Plain, south of Hay, NSW, Margie McClelland/MAPgroup 30

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Above: Melbourne, VIC, Alan Attwood/MAPgroup Opposite: Mallacoota, VIC, Alan Attwood/MAPgroup

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Barunga Festival, NT, Julie Bowyer/MAPgroup

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Barunga Festival, NT, Julie Bowyer/MAPgroup

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Above and opposite: Mutawintji National Park, NSW, Krystal Seigerman/MAPgroup

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T H E D I S TA N C E

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Above: Mungo National Park, NSW, Krystal Seigerman/MAPgroup Previous pages: Port Campbell, VIC, Brian Carr/MAPgroup 42

Mutawintji National Park, NSW, Krystal Seigerman/MAPgroup

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The word ‘Nullarbor’ means no trees, but in one section there is a scattering of these trees. They were so beautiful, not very tall, and sculpted by the constant strong wind blowing off the Great Australian Bight.

I just had to stop and photograph them.

Julie Millowick, photographer

Nullarbor Plain, WA, Julie Millowick/MAPgroup 44

Mutawintji National Park, NSW, Krystal Seigerman/MAPgroup

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Above: Lake Mungo National Park, NSW, Julie Bowyer/MAPgroup Opposite: Louth, NSW, Andrew Chapman/MAPgroup

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Nullarbor Plain, SA, Brian Carr/MAPgroup

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Byron Bay, NSW, Brent Lukey/MAPgroup

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Above: Mutawintji National Park, NSW, Krystal Seigerman/MAPgroup Opposite: Melbourne Zoo, VIC, Brian Carr/MAPgroup

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Left and opposite: Beaumaris, VIC, Nigel Clements/MAPgroup 56

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