Wendy Murphy:
A highlight for me was hearing from all the land holders who have active mounds, (sometimes several), on their properties and the measures they are going to to protect the birds ie fox baiting, goat control, habitat protection. This is often done on very limited budgets and often in their own time with little assistance from agencies.
Although there is great work going on with genetic research and monitoring of Malleefowl, very little is going on in regards to what constitutes good Malleefowl habitat, and why they live where they do. There seems to be one or two critical aspects as to why Malleefowl use particular patches over others which for all intents and purposes appear to be identical.
Thank goodness we don't have feral goats or deer. These two animals seem to be a major concern for many groups and individuals trying to preserve Malleefowl habitat.
Overall I thought it was a really well run forum, sticking closely to time, but allowing enough breaks through the day so as to not be an overload or become boring. There was a great array of speakers and topics presented. I was trying to think of other national forums which focus entirely on the aspects of just one species.
Peter Watts:
I found it interesting to compare the 2004 Malleefowl Forum which I also attended with the present 2011 Forum. In the earlier forum it seemed to me, from memory, that there was present a smaller group of enthusiastic people concerned with determining where they wanted to go, what they wanted to achieve, the setting of targets and showing interest in trying to ensure that relevant States were included in the common effort. The present forum indicated clearly that a lot of detail had been gathered since then. I was particularly impressed by the attitude of the landholders who had taken a genuine interest in the welfare of the Malleefowl on their properties and by the work of the Milton Lewis group. The similarities between the work of the WCMN and this group were obvious – I only wish we had a helicopter!
Doug Pocock:
We enjoyed the whole conference. One of the highlights was Taneal Cope's delivery on genetics and to see the progress she is making since she spoke at the last VMFRG meeting at Wyperfeld, October 2010. Her final report should be quite fascinating.
The papers on the role of fire were well presented and gave good information. They should be mandatory reading for the legislators who are so keen on large-scale prescribed burning.
Milton Lewis's information on using helicopters for searching was particularly interesting to me as I have been looking into the possibility of using this method for Wedderburn. One of the joys of a conference like this was to be able to network with the speakers. I had a long talk with Milton about his work and on the strength of this hope to organize a trial next April.
The presenters who spoke about Malleefowl conservation on private land inadvertently raised the question of the efficacy of fox baiting. One saw a large number of birds and later about 30 foxes. He then began to eradicate foxes (which I totally agree with) but missed the point that the Malleefowl were existing in large numbers despite the presence of foxes. Only a monitoring process would show if fox reduction is making any difference - Joe Benshemesh's constant argument.
Jan Llewelyn
As Doug comments we were both fascinated to hear more of Taneal's PH.D. study, both because of its intrinsic interest re the history of Australian fauna and because of its implications for the viability of the Malleefowl and for reintroduction of chicks to suitable but depopulated areas (perhaps Wedderburn one day).
I was also impressed by the study of the effects of locust spraying on Malleefowl nesting success near the SA/Victorian border - good news if the study involved enough examples.
Milton Lewis's (local CMA) extensive and well-thought-through search for mallee fowl mounds in western NSW was also very interesting, as were his unexpected and as yet unexplained findings re distribution.
Ann Stokie's (from Victorian Malleefowl Recovery Group) lateral thinking re volunteers, for nest monitoring or whatever, was also stimulating.
A very busy dense weekend - loads of information, discussion, listening, sitting still in a stuffy room. Lots of great pictorial stuff too, which was educational and informative for me.
Annette Robertson:
I found it very valuable to hear the reports from all states involved with Malleefowl. A very effective and informative way to gain an understanding of not only the distribution of the Malleefowl, but how, for various reasons their management and biodiversity priority is very different in every State.
States such as WA are suffering with declining numbers of volunteers (in the North) whereas in the southern parts there are several localities with Malleefowl as a high community profile with many schools and children involved with Malleefowl related activities.
Monitoring and the national database were stressed as a major priority for Malleefowl management in all areas. It was interesting to note how it is done by helicopter in NSW as a cost effective way, and by cameras in the Maralinga desert country of SA. VMRG presentation demonstrated a cohesive and systematic approach to monitoring.
I attended the “Nature Lovers” field trip conducted by the Friends of Riverland parks group. This was an enlightening experience with an all too familiar scenario of a group who have declining numbers and ageing volunteers however they showed off the bush with enthusiasm. It was a sobering thought for consideration that in the early 90’s this group engaged large numbers of local community members to assist with line searches for Mallee fowl. With many locals aware of location and habitat of Malleefowl, the numbers of birds shot and nests disturbed escalated. Today there are no active mounds in the area.
Lynton Schriever:
I found the conference interesting and informative. Considerable variety of speakers.
Of particular interest to me were the presentations by VMRG which related to activities that I have participated in, such as the Malleefowl Tracking in Little Desert National Park, and the collection of genetic material for Taneal Copes genetic research, as well as the annual monitoring that is recorded on the national database. I enjoyed the presentations by ordinary farmers speaking about how they manage the Malleefowl on their properties. They had important messages and expressed concerns about interference with Malleefowl activity when their mounds are disturbed for research purposes.
