ANBG Theatrette,
Clunies Ross Street Acton ACT 2601
Canberra, 2601 Australia
Canberra, 2601 Australia
Gina will discuss the first ever listing of an Australian river system, the River Murray—Darling to Sea, as a threatened ecosystem under national environmental law, including: what it is, why it’s threatened, how it was assessed, the challenges involved, the benefits of listing, and priority recovery actions. (Photo: Ben Good)
Abstract
The River Murray, downstream of the Darling River, and associated aquatic and floodplain systems (known as the River Murray—Darling to Sea) was listed nationally as a Critically Endangered ecological community (aka ecosystem) in January this year.
This listing represents a first for Australia, although its journey was challenging—scientifically, socially, and policy-wise. A similar attempt in 2013 saw it being the first disallowed entity in the history of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The decades long decline of the River Murray—Darling to Sea is due to many compounding threats, with water extraction, invasive species, and climate change impacts, prominent. The listing, along with efforts under the Basin Plan, represents a positive and hopeful way forward for the Mighty Murray and its dependent biodiversity.
Biography
Gina is a marine biologist, zoologist and science communicator. She has worked for several decades at the science-policy interface with the Australian Government, in a range of environmental areas, including fisheries, state of the environment reporting, climate change science, and Murray-Darling Basin ecology. A career highlight has been undertaking assessments for listing several world-first, landscape-scale aquatic threatened ecosystems under Australian environmental law.
Booking Link – https://www.trybooking.com/DKZGE
Booking
Lunchtime talks are held at 12.30 pm every Thursday from February to November. Talks last for 1 hour. We welcome donations by gold coins, notes, or electronically. The Friends use donations received at each talk to support Gardens’ programs and development and we thank all those who have donated.
Unless otherwise indicated, talks are held in the ANBG Theatrette.
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The Friends of the ANBG thank the speakers who volunteer their time and talents to further the knowledge of all attending events in the Gardens. Many summaries or PowerPoint presentations of Thursday talks are available to Friends at the ANBG library. Please direct queries about the talks to the Thursday Talks Team: email talks@friendsanbg.org.au.