BUSHTRACKS 21/09/2015
Back from the brink
Ornithologist Dr Stephen Murphy is leading efforts to research the newly discovered population of Night Parrots. Dr Murphy takes a moment to discuss the significance of this work.
Read MoreIt was an emotional moment for Meredith Geyer and her family as they arrived at South Australia’s Boolcoomatta Reserve and entered the renovated shearers’ quarters.
Fixed to the wall beside the fireplace is a stained timber board acknowledging the generous donors and benefactors who have helped to fund Bush Heritage’s work at Boolcoomatta. Meredith’s father, John Weightman, who passed away two years ago, is the latest name to be included on the plaque.
“We know how much Dad would have loved to be there with us,” she said. “It felt as if we were in tune with him at Boolcoomatta.”
Despite being regular donors, it was the first time Meredith, her brother Andrew and their families had stepped onto a Bush Heritage Australia reserve. Until then they'd never seen first-hand the work that has been carried out on behalf of supporters such as their father.
“He just loved that country. Who could say why?” Meredith smiles. “Maybe it was the peace. Maybe it was the beauty. But I think it just spoke to him. And he wanted to help keep it that way.”
John donated to Bush Heritage for more than 20 years, then left a bequest in his will. His contribution has been used to fund projects that are protecting Boolcoomatta’s vulnerable species, including the purplewood wattle and the slender‑billed thornbill.
“For people who want to protect our natural heritage, becoming a donor or leaving money to Bush Heritage is a way of guaranteeing that,” says Meredith, who is now considering her own options for making a bequest after her touching visit to Boolcoomatta.
“I can’t emphasise enough how proud we are of Dad for having made a contribution, not only during his life but also after he was gone. It’s such a special thing to do.”
If you’re interesting in making a bequest to Bush Heritage Australia, call our Bequests Team on (03) 8610 9139.
More from BushTracks Spring 2015
BUSHTRACKS 21/09/2015
Battling buffel to protect our desert jewel
Bon Bon Station Reserve in South Australia is a true outback marvel, an expansive landscape dotted with shimmering salt lakes, red dune sands supporting mulga trees, open ironstone plains studded with stately myall trees and stunningly beautiful expanses of pearl bluebush. Our challenge is to protect it from invasive Buffel Grass.
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BUSHTRACKS 21/09/2015
The future of Birriliburu country in great hands
Since the Birriliburu Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) was established in 2013, Bush Heritage has been fostering a partnership with the traditional owners – the Martu people – and the Central Desert Native Title Services Land and Community Team. The Martu people were granted native title to 136,000 square kilometres of their country in 2002, the largest native title determination in Australian history at the time.
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BUSHTRACKS 21/09/2015
Leaders among us
Bush Heritage has had volunteers leading groups of volunteers in the past, but our new program formalises the Volunteer Leader role and offers a more structured approach for people interested in using their leadership skills in this way.
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BUSHTRACKS 21/09/2015
Ghost of the outback
Bush Heritage Australia is leading the recovery effort to secure one of the world’s rarest birds, the mysterious Night Parrot. In 2013 Queensland naturalist John Young set the ornithological world atwitter after sighting and photographing a bird that has been the ‘Holy Grail’ for birdwatchers, the enigmatic Night Parrot (Pezoporus occidentalis), a bird so rare and elusive that it's bordered on the mythological.
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