Presentations, videos and references
The Urban Bushland Council WA delivers 4 special talks each year on subjects we think that members and supporters will find interesting and valuable. We have collected up some of these and made them available here.
2022
Understanding the Environmental Protection Act (1986) and how it can save urban bushland
This Urban Bushland Council workshop focused on the Environmental Protection Act (1986) and its role in protecting WA’s dwindling urban bushland. Participants included UBC members from over 30 landcare and advocacy groups across Perth.
UBC was delighted to welcome a panel of experts to share their knowledge about:
* The ins and outs of the WA Environmental Protection (EP) Act 1986
* The role of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the Environmental Defenders Office (EDO)
* How to write effective EPA submissions and appeals to help save our natural bushland heritage.
A summary of the workshop presentations is available here.
Videos of the presentations (the playlist) are now available on our Youtube channel here or you can go direct by clicking the links below.
Dr Hugh Finn, Lecturer Curtin Law School
Tim Macknay, Managing Lawyer, Environmental Defender’s Office Perth
Prof Matthew Tonts, Chair, Environmental Protection Authority
Colma Keating, UBC Deputy Chairperson
Margaret Owen (OAM), UBC Committee member
Mary Gray (OAM), UBC Committee member and Honorary Life Member
Submissions and appeals are an important part of the environmental review process that can affect policy decisions. UBC has a Submissions Subcommittee which writes an average of two submissions per month. We are always looking to expand the subcommittee membership and pool of experienced writers. Please drop us an email to ubc@bushlandperth.org.au if you are interested in getting involved.
This workshop was supported by a Volunteer Grant from the Australian Government.
2021
Professor Kingsley Dixon – National Standards for Ecological Restoration.
Professor Kingsley Dixon was welcomed back to UBC in June 2021 to introduce our audience to the National Standards for Ecological Restoration in the same week as the United Nations launched the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration. The practice of ecological restoration seeks to transform humanity’s role from one where we are the agents of degradation to one where we act as conservators and healers of indigenous ecosystems. There has never been a more urgent need to revive damaged ecosystems than now.
From these links you can read Kingsley’s presentation and find the paper published in Restoration Ecology (free to download). You can also find information about the Standards and the Recovery Wheel, including an online version as well as an Excel template.
Dr Judy Fisher – Protecting our bushland and enhancing biodiversity
Judy shared with our UBC audience the most up to date knowledge and approaches on protecting and conserving biodiversity to assist protecting your local places. She spoke about the collaborative work of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) which is hugely influential globally and is setting direction for the protection and conservation of the planet’s biodiversity and is the sister organisation to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This knowledge is increasing investment in restoration in urban reserves. You can find Judy Fisher’s talk here.
2020
Professor Kingsley Dixon – Burning our Bushland. Will our biodiversity survive prescribed burning?
Professor Kingsley Dixon spoke to UBC members and supporters in July 2020 about the impact of prescribed burning on biodiversity. In the talk he showed us the evidence as presented in a recent review paper. (Bradshaw et al – find the paper here).
Here is a link to his presentation. This talk was also recorded so you can find the YouTube video here.
Dr Geoff Barrett – Help protect our bushland quendas.
Geoff presented a status report on Quendas in urban areas. He outlined to the audience how we might be able to protect quenda in our own bushland. Here you can find a link to his presentation.