Species of the Desert Festival: Night Parrot recovery plan
For the first time in history, a threatened species recovery plan for Night Parrots was drafted on country with help from rangers, setting a benchmark for government partnerships.
This monumental occasion took place at the Species of the Desert Festival in Mulan – a biennial event that brings together rangers, scientists and stakeholders to build knowledge and develop strategies to look after the many species that call the desert home.
Eight Punmu rangers travelled 2,000kms to be among those in attendance, and helped provide one strong collective voice about the importance of proper recognition of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge on management plans and the need to include Traditional Owners and rangers in the process.
Over 200 people were in attendance, with a lot of familiar faces with rangers joining from across the Western and Central desert.
Teams explored tools for self-healing and the importance of “healthy people; healthy country”. Other discussions included:
development of research protocols so Traditional Owners and ranger teams have ownership of information and can drive research priorities on their country;
managing media interest for high profile species;
creative mapping: based on fire scar and ‘bush supermarket’ paintings made by the Mulan community; and
generally lots of passionate sharing, gathering and wangka (talk) around the campfire.
With thanks…
Thank you to the Mulan community, Mulan Traditional Owners and elders for their warm welcome, Paraku rangers and Indigenous Desert Alliance for a great week.
