PARTNERING TO SAVE AUSTRALIA'S ENDANGERED WILDLIFE- Anne J
Bianca Friend, our speaker tonight, works for Australia Wildlife Conservancy (AWC). The AWC manages over seven million hectares of land, which is serviced by 208 people.. She has been involved with the AWC for four years. The AWC was established by Martin Copley. It deals with endangered species and more particularly, ensuring that the biodiversity of species is maintained in Australia.
Bianca gave us examples of what she called "conservation estates" throughout parts of Australia, areas in which the AWC deals with the habitat for animals on the cusp of extinction.
Seventy percent of the staff work in the field. Different strategies are applied to deal with endangered animals. In some cases, fences are constructed to protect a particular species of animal. More importantly, science underpins everything the AWC does.
Surveying which animal species inhabit a zone is essential. In some cases, farmers working pastoral land request the AWC to survey an area to assess and evaluate which animals are on a particular site. In other cases, governments allocate zones to enable the AWC to experiment with wildlife preservation. The goal of the AWC is to manage more of Australia, focusing on species which are at risk of extinction. Should individuals wish to volunteer, Bianca directed them to the AWC website, using the volunteer portal.
Bianca demonstrated a passion for the preservation of animals in Australia. She, through her presentation, informed us about the scientific and overall strategies adopted to preserve biodiversity.