When the general community think about threatened species, the ones that come to mind are often the species overseas such as the Panda, Gorilla or Rhinoceros. Not a lot of people think about the locally native bird species that are doing it tough. But there are many locally native threatened species in the Riverina, including the bird species the Australasian Bittern, the Malleefowl and the Plains-wanderer.
Murrumbidgee Landcare Inc, supported by Riverina Local Land Services with funding provided by the Federal Government National Landcare Program, undertook a project to spread the word about threatened bird species across Riverina schools, teaching students about becoming citizen scientists. We carried out presentations and provided teachers with resources and confidence to continue educating the students into the future about these birds.
One of the highlights of the program was the opportunity to learn a little more about the cultural significance of the birds. Murrumbidgee Landcare purchased one of the artworks by Wiradjuri Elder Michael Lyons who came with the team to the local schools to spread the word on how First Nations people look after threatened species.
Case Study LP51 – Riverina local threatened species take the stage
