Gang-gang cockatoos, Greater Gliders, and Golden Sun Moths need Canberrans to step up and become their Bush Buds!
The Conservation Council ACT Region has launched its newest campaign ‘Bush Buds’, inviting Canberrans along with federal and local elected representatives to become ambassadors for local threatened species.
Launched today, Thursday 2 March, Bush Buds gives locals the opportunity to learn about their chosen species and attend a walk with an expert to see their animal up close.
Nine politicians from all walks of politics attended the campaign launch at Mulligans Flat Wildbark Visitors Centre, each with their own chosen Bush Bud:
- Dr Marisa Paterson MLA – Superb Parrot
- Leanne Castley MLA – Glossy Black Cockatoo
- Shane Rattenbury MLA – Northern Corroboree Frog
- Johnathan Davis MLA – Greater Glider
- Nicole Lawder MLA – Eastern Bettong
- Rebecca Vassarotti MLA – Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon
- Andrew Braddock MLA – Striped Legless Lizard
- Emma Davidson MLA – Small Ant Blue Butterfly
- Peter Cain MLA – Swift Parrot
Executive director of the Conservation Council ACT Region, Elle Lawless, said this is a critical time for Canberra’s natural surrounds and Bush Buds is a great opportunity to celebrate and discover the wildlife wonders of the Bush Capital.
“Human wellbeing and environmental wellbeing are indivisible from one another, and in the bid to tackle the triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate change, it is imperative that decision makers and the public take a leading role in caring for the environment,” Ms Lawless said.
ACT Minister for the Environment, Rebecca Vassarotti, said considering the ACT is facing an extinction crisis, caring for local threatened species and environment is “above politics”.
Ms Vassarotti commended the support for the campaign from politicians across the political divide.
“As the ACT Environment Minister, it is my honour to care for all threatened species, but today, I am proudly the ambassador for the Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon, which is one of my personal favourites. What they lack in stature, they make up in personality – something that I share in common with them,” she said.
“The ACT Government has been doing important work to save our dragon colonies from extinction, while taking the next step in their eventual reintroduction into the wild. Last week, 40 captive-bred dragons were released into predator free ring tank enclosures, where our ecologists will monitor them closely.”
Outreach manager at Wildbark, Millie Sutherland-Saines, said a number of flora and fauna call Canberra’s critically endangered woodlands and grasslands home, and they are just “clinging on”.
However, Canberra has a fantastic and passionate environmental community that fight for the protection of these “rare ecosystems”, Ms Sutherland-Saines said.
“Mulligans Flat, where I work, exists as a public nature reserve due to community groups fighting to have it protected. Since then, we have been able to work with ANU and ACT Parks to create Canberra’s first fox-proof sanctuary and reintroduce species that have been lost from the region for between 50-100 years. But there is still work to do,” she said.
“Bush Buds is a fantastic initiative to create more social awareness on the plight of our threatened species. I’m honoured to be a part of this trailblazing campaign and hope it will help inspire people to care and make changes that will benefit our local wildlife.”
ACT Shadow Minister for the Environment, Nicole Lawder, said there are always more ways Canberrans can care for our local environment, and the Bush Buds campaign is an exciting opportunity to learn.
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