General News
14 August, 2023
Experts talk on saving species
Popular TV gardening host Costa Georgiadis will be heading to Warracknabeal next month to host the long-running Wimmera Biodiversity Seminar. The focus this year is on rediscovering our threatened species as the event coincides with National...
Popular TV gardening host Costa Georgiadis will be heading to Warracknabeal next month to host the long-running Wimmera Biodiversity Seminar.
The focus this year is on rediscovering our threatened species as the event coincides with National Threatened Species Day.
Continuing without a break for 26 years, the seminar has brought knowledge, experience, research, practical applications, revelations and many fascinating conversations to the Wimmera region.
Threatened species are particularly important, and presentations will cover a range of species, including birds, dingoes, plants, reptiles and insects, as well as looking at how we are working to improve the situation for these species.
The organising committee has worked hard to pull together a fascinating and informative list of speakers who will provide their unique perspectives.
The program will begin with a special video from the National Threatened Species Commissioner, Dr Fiona Fraser.
"Twenty-six years and still going strong, our audience knows that we will deliver an interesting and educational day with a range of speakers who will not only provide insights based on our theme but also a variety of ideas and innovations," committee member La Vergne Lehmann said.
"These speakers will certainly challenge and engage the audience with each bringing a different approach to this important topic and theme.
"After returning to a face-to-face event last year in Pomonal, we all realised how important it was getting back to in-person events held in our rural communities."
This year’s logo, poster and program have been created by local Traditional Owner, Yama Harradine, and like most aspects of the event, supporting local communities, businesses and artists has always been a strong focus.
Registrations have opened and tickets are already selling fast through Eventbrite.
For details visit the Wimmera Biodiversity Seminar Facebook page.
This year’s event continues to be supported by a range of organisations, including DEECA, Wimmera CMA, Bank Australia, Barengi Gadjin Land Council, Yarriambiack Shire Council, Horsham Rural City Council, Grampians Wimmera Mallee Water and Trust for Nature.
The Wimmera Biodiversity Seminar, which includes an afternoon field trip, will be held at the same venue as the very first seminar - at the Warracknabeal Town Hall on Thursday, September 7.
SEMINAR SPEAKERS
Prof Brendan Wintle - Growing policy momentum to tackle the global biodiversity
crisis
Russell Larke and Marie Velthoven - Back from the brink - Grevillea gariwerdensis and
the collaborative efforts to conserve an endemic species not seen for 25 years
Stuart Harradine - Wotjobaluk connections to Wilkerr (Dingo)
Jonathan Starks - The Wimmera’s other threatened birds
Damien Cook - Transforming Wirra-Lo
Elaine Bayes - Searches for the elusive Eltham Copper Butterfly find gold - well,
copper - in the Wimmera
Elizabeth Newton - Reptiles of the Big Desert
Paul Foreman - The role of Aboriginal burning in the biogeography of the temperate
grasslands of south-eastern Australia including the Wimmera