One of the great privileges of my role is being able to visit the beautiful places that together we help protect.
Last month, I had my first trip to one of these special places - Tarcutta Hills Reserve, in the rolling Humula Hills in south-western New South Wales.
Tarcutta Hills Reserve is one of the largest remaining areas of grassy white box woodland left in Australia, a vital habitat for birds such as the endangered swift parrot, and has only been protected thanks to the generosity of Bush Heritage supporters like you.
On this particular trip I was further privileged to be joined by Bush Heritage Ambassador Tim Fischer, a passionate enthusiast for regional Australia. Tim is a strong supporter of Bush Heritage's role in maintaining Australia's unique places. Together with Reserve Manager Peter Saunders we took a tour around Tarcutta's 430 hectares to see how the bush was faring, but not before firstly logging into the Bush Heritage ‘call-in' safety system and registering our trip.
With a workforce of regional and remote staff, the safety of our people is our highest priority. The log-in and log-out system is just one process, albeit an important one, in the range of safety procedures we adhere to, and Tim was reassured to learn about the steps we take to keep our Bush Heritage ‘family' safe.
Bush Heritage ambassador Tim Fischer touring Tarcutta Hills Reserve with CEO Gerard O'Neill in March. Photo: Peter Saunders
Your overwhelming support for the protection of Naree Station gives all of us at Bush Heritage even greater determination to look after it.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to introduce the newest members of the family, David and Sue Akers, who will be joining us as the first full-time reserve managers of your newest reserve, Naree Station. David and Sue bring to their latest role a wealth of experience in landscapes like Naree, so I am thrilled that they're on board. It's thanks to you that we're able to position David and Sue at Naree - your overwhelming support for the protection of this important place gives all of us at Bush Heritage even greater determination to look after it.
As you'll read in our cover story, our work at Naree Station is really now only just beginning, with an ecological survey of the reserve's plants and animals soon to take place, so I look forward now to getting David and Sue settled into Naree's beautiful little homestead, and letting them get down to work!
Cheers,
Gerard O'Neill, CEO