Back to Contents

Your NPA

WALK TO ESCAPE THE CITY AND ENJOY THE BUSH!!
Farewell to Cath Webb
An Easy HOW-TO Raise funds in a hurry
Eastern Conservation Corridor
Profile – ANDREW SOURRY
 

WALK TO ESCAPE THE CITY AND ENJOY THE BUSH!! 

NPA will be holding two Bushwalking Open Days during 2001, the first to be held on Sunday 3 June at Ku-ring-gai Chase NP, Sydney.

After the successful Bushwalking Open Day last November, we decided to hold two for this year. The Open Days are aimed at promoting awareness of NPA’s Bushwalking Program and ultimately increasing our membership. They also offer people new to national parks the opportunity to enjoy the sights and sounds of the bush whilst participating in an easy walk. We urge members to encourage non-NPA friends, neighbours and workmates to come along. Families are most welcome and there will be special guided walks for young children.


Enthusiastic volunteers
at NPA Open Day, 
November 2000

 The first walk will begin at 10.30 am, meeting at the Bobbin Head picnic area, followed by lunch at 12 to 1 pm, with a second walk starting at 1 pm. 
For more information, contact Karen at the NPA office on 9299 0000 
or email admin@npansw.org.au
or visit our website at www.npansw.org.au

Karen Petley, 
Administration Manager 

Farewell to Cath Webb 

Some time back – the exact date eludes me – the NPA Executive considered how it could further conservation goals in western NSW. We had commissioned a report on the west and were looking at ways to ensure that the recommendations were embedded into government decisions.

Coincidentally, about that time, I received a letter seeking donations for conservation outcomes in western NSW from WWF. I dutifully posted off a cheque. A few weeks later I received a phone call from Jamie Pittock. He had recognised my signature and decided that WWF and NPA could get a western project operational much more quickly if we combined resources.

We prepared the groundwork and developed protocols; then we advertised the position. Ray Nias and I conducted the interviews and, well, Cath was the outstanding candidate.

This began the Western Project and our association with Cath. We have been blessed – Cath has been outstanding. She has engaged farmers and Aboriginal communities in dialogue, has successfully dealt with an assortment of local Councillors, bureaucrats and politicians, and has always impressed. She has been courteous, open and knowledgeable. Those who matter – the local communities – trusted her. Whether working in that original position as Western Project Officer, or in the more recent Western Wetlands Project, Cath has been a wonderful campaigner.

I am not sure what Cath would nominate as her most important successes. She is certainly proud of her work in gaining Ramsar nominations for several wetlands on private properties, with the blessing of the landowners. I think I would just nominate the increased profile for western issues in general. It is an area desperately in need of conservation attention and Cath has provided a solid base for the future.

Cath has now relinquished her position in order to study. I am sure that she has not disappeared from our lives, but we wish her well in the next phase in her life. We will miss her greatly. Thanks, Cath.

Brian Everingham,
Hon Secretary

An Easy HOW-TO Raise funds in a hurry 

Macarthur Branch needed money, so we held a fundraising dinner at our very cheapest and best Thai restaurant. (The proprietor, Joe, always does a good deal for us, and we are considering making him an honorary member!) We needed money for our appearance at the Land and Environment Court (see p 9).

The date we chose was 30 January and, very conveniently, Campbelltown State electorate was holding a by-election the next weekend, so we had the Liberal Independent (David Barker) and the Labor candidate (Graham West) more than willing to come along, what with the promise of a captive audience of the key green people of the district all there for the taking. They dutifully handed over their money, and were given the opportunity to speak and to answer questions. It shows when aspiring politicians have done their homework, ... or not.

In Campbelltown, it is a foregone conclusion which party will win (work it out for yourselves) but, nevertheless, we continue to try to make the electorate marginal, so that then both of the major parties will have to listen to us – currently neither does! Peter Breen, Member of the Legislative Council, also attended. He continues to be a great ally in our ongoing battle to protect the Georges.

We had a great evening, raised a reasonable sum of money, put our politicians on notice that we will be expecting green outcomes from them – and it wasn’t a great deal of work to organise. Next fundraiser may be a community bushwalk – with takeaway from Joe for lunch.

Beth Michie,
Macarthur Branch

Eastern Conservation Corridor 

An NPA project is under way – and nearing completion – to outline plans for a reserve network following the full length of the highlands of the NSW eastern seaboard.

There have been bursts of progress in NSW towards a true reserve network. A series of national parks created from Crown land, mainly since the 1970s, provided the initial glimpse of what might be. The 1980s rainforest reserves made the next contribution. With the past decade of native forest assessments/reservations, a number of core habitat strongholds have emerged.

The project seeks to fill in the remaining gaps in a future connected reserve system. In many places this can be done without revisiting natural resource conflicts of the recent past. In other areas, corridors need to be progressively acquired or restored. The role of conservation agreements with private landholders is also being highlighted as a valuable component.

John Macris

Profile  – ANDREW SOURRY 

On Australia Day this year, Andrew was awarded the medal of the Order of Australia for his conservation work on the Central Coast.

He is a retired pharmacist living near Gosford, and is a member of the Central Coast NPA Branch. Andrew’s late wife Lois was a foundation member of NPA when it was formed in 1957, and Andrew has been a member now for 44 years. They were both involved in the dedication of Brisbane Water NP in 1959, the first national park to be declared on the Central Coast.


Andrew Sourry
Photo: R. Leibrandt

Wyrrabalong NP (northern section) was the most difficult of the parks campaigns in which Andrew and Lois were involved. It lies between Tuggerah Lake and the ocean, and from 1968 to 1976 a battle raged over a proposal for rutile mining in the area. Hostility was intense and an incendiary was even put in Andrew’s mail box! Wyrrabalong NP was not easily won.

Since Lois died in 1987, he has devoted himself to securing the conservation of natural areas, working closely with local councils, the NPWS, MPs and local communities. His greatest success is the establishment of Popran NP, located 25 km south-west of Gosford. It is made up of five different sections, the most southerly sweeping down to the Hawkesbury River, and is a wildlife corridor between Brisbane Water and Dharug NPs.

Part of the citation issued by the Order of Australia Office reads:

"Involved in community efforts which resulted in the establishment or extensions of ... national parks and nature reserves in the Gosford area ... Retired member, Central Coast District National Parks and Wildlife Service Advisory Committee, assisting with the preparation of draft plans of management for various parks and reserves on the Central Coast … Honorary life member, National Parks Association of NSW and instigator of their publication A Proposal for the Protection of Remnant Rainforest in the Gosford and Wyong Area (1993)."

Andrew was not only the instigator of the rainforest study; he did a considerable amount of the field work with Robert Payne and assisted him with the data compilation. The study has aided Gosford City Council in the development of its Rainforest Policy and in reserve management. He is also a retired member of the Gosford City Council Coastal Open Space System Committee.

A less-known facet of Andrew’s life was his work in Greece at the end of World War II. He was awarded the Bronze Medallion of the Greek Red Cross for Meritorious and Distinguished Service. This award was for his participation in an Australian Red Cross team operating in 1945/46 with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency in Greece. He was also made an Honorary Citizen of Kozani, the provincial capital of West Macedonia.

Their mission was to receive and treat hostages returning from the north, suffering from starvation, illness and penury. This work included long trips into remote mountain areas, where at times conditions were so bad that mules were used for transport. Communist guerillas, operating in the Greek Civil War, added to the hazards. Luckily for us, Andrew survived these dangers.

Although NPA has awarded Andrew honorary life membership for his environmental work, it is very pleasing that he now has national recognition.

Barbara Hobart
Central Coast Branch



Long-nosed bandicoot

 National Parks Association - Home Page
 
Other editions of the National Parks Journal
 

Top of page


Long-nosed bandicoot