Bringing back the southern pygmy perch
You may recall (some months back), that I published a research paper describing the successful reintroduction of a threatened freshwater fish, the southern pygmy perch, into wetlands around Bendigo, Victoria. This work has been extremely rewarding for a lot of reasons: not just for the positive conservation outcomes for a threatened (and underappreciated!) species but also for the incredible community engagement it involved. Without the help of local volunteers, restoration efforts of this scale would not be possible and it’s been amazing to see how the community has responded. I really don’t think I can underestimate how invigorating it is to see the general public commit to direct conservation action and to be able to see the outcomes of their efforts over a few years.
As you might expect, I’ve been shouting about this project far and wide (it’s not all bragging, I swear!). I’m pleased to say that it has garnered some good media attention: last week, as part of a series on “Good Green News“, we shared our story with The Conversation. It’s been my goal to publish an article there for some time, and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out: be sure to check out!
Following on from that, I also had the pleasure of chatting with Andy Park on the ABC Radio National Drive Program earlier this week as well: you can check out the short interview (~3 minutes) here.
The response and universal benefits of the program have certainly ignited my passion for community-driven conservation efforts: now that I am firmly based in Perth, I hope we can make similar programs happen here soon as well. Remember that we can all contribute to the protection and recovery of threatened species, even from our own backyards and neighbourhoods!
The G-cat 