WETLANDS are the beating heart of our environment, and with encroaching subdivisions threatening these wondrous, biologically diverse ecosystems some local bodies have organised a big symposium to work out a plan to stop them being destroyed.
Hawkesbury Environment Network, Western Sydney University, the National Landcare program and RCE-GWS# have organised a Wetlands of the West Symposium on September 16-17 at Hawkesbury campus of WSU.
It will focus attention on the importance of our wetlands which need to be managed and protected and will allow experts in different areas to exchange knowledge and ideas on how best to do it.
There will be a keynote address from Phil Straw from Avifauna Research and Services, panel discussions, workshops and presentations on day one and a field trip to a number of sites in greater western Sydney on day two.
Presentations by local birdwatchers, academics, and experts in fields of environmental engineering and monitoring will be there.
Hawkesbury Environment Network will talk about its wetland restoration work with Green Army teams in the Windsor-Richmond lowlands area, as well as its support for WIRES’ campaign to save waterfowl from death or damage on Pughs Lagoon.
WSU students will outline their research programs about water quality and impacts of carp and Local Land Services and Landcare’s work will also be highlighted.
Talks will include ‘Creating liveable subdivisions using storm water’, ‘Wetland birds - their family groups and habitat’, ‘Wetlands and weeds’, ‘Restoring Hawkesbury wetlands’, ‘Becoming a Citizen Scientist’, ‘Soil management and its impact on wetlands’, ‘Coal mining and water pollution in the Sydney Basin’, ‘Incorporating traditional knowledge into natural resource management’.
Everyone is welcome but you must register and pay by September 9. You can attend one or two days. Tickets are $30 at eventbrite.com.au. Just search Wetlands of the West.
# Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development – Greater Western Sydney
