OK, as a first point, I would have preferred that the link in Simon's
original post was http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2010/09/24/181931_opinion.html
- having to navigate via a couple of 'empty' pages is a pain.
The second point is that the article is written in a typical tabloid
opinion style, and you learn little from reading it. The first
sentence is the only one that contains any "facts" . The reference to
literacy was gratuitous, and pitched at the attitudes of "the audience".
On the positive side, the article makes correct use of the term
twitcher [not a common term in journalistic circles], and it does make
reference to potential economic spin-offs from birdwatching. For
better or worse, birding may be regarded as a freeloading activity by
some people - birders come in, poke about and leave without giving
anything in return. From the local's perspective, it is like the old
joke about bushwalkers in Tasmania - "They arrive with a shirt and a
ten pound note and leave without changing either". If I remember
correctly, birding organisations in the USA put a bit of effort in to
demonstrating that birders do indeed make an economic contribution.
Regards, Laurie.
On 05/10/2010, at 10:15 AM, Peter Shute wrote:
I agree it's interesting, but not that it's useful. I can't see much
in the article that isn't at least insensitive, although I can see
that it reflects the views many people hold (I hope no one takes
that as an insult).
"ABORIGINAL traditional owners recently banned about 50 birdwatchers
from entering their land to see a rare parrot. The decision came
across as petty."
It might have come across as petty to some, but I doubt the matter
was treated that way by the people that made it. If only one or two
groups of birders had made permit applications then I assume it's
quite possible that they would have got a permit. There's no way
they were ever going to issue permits for the number that did apply.
I don't think the article is useful in any other way than that it
proves that there are some people who think the decision was wrong.
We already knew that. Perhaps the situation did present an
opportunity for the locals to get involved as paid guides, but
that's not something that was going to be set up at the drop of a
hat for 80 birders who suddenly wanted to go there, so that
suggestion isn't relevant to this case.
I don't really think birding-aus is the place for discussions like
this, so I welcome any moves by the moderators to close it down, but
the link was posted here and is birding related, so I'm responding.
Peter Shute
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Simon Mustoe
Sent: Tuesday, 5 October 2010 9:35 AM
To: ; ;
Subject: RE: [Birding-Aus] Ashmore Reef information
If there are connotations of racism or 'blame' in this
article, I guess it's got nothing to do with birding or
birders. So putting those other matters aside and just
looking at it's mention that the indigenous community has
lost out - isn't this interesting to birders?
Since the Princess Parrot debacle, this is the first time
that anyone in the Australian media has questioned whether
banning birders outright was actually the best option. That
would seem to me, to be a very reasonable hypothesis. So on
that point, I think this should be of interest to birders and
at least someone has had the gumption to mention it.
Remember, this article was written by a journalist ... not by
Bird-O - so don't shoot the messenger ; ) ... this is me ducking!
All the best,
Simon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simon Mustoe
Tel: +61 (0) 405220830 | Skype simonmustoe | Email
Visit BIRD-O at http://www.bird-o.com
Follow BIRD-O on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/birdodotcom
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Date: Tue, 5 Oct 2010 07:31:15 +0930
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Ashmore Reef information
From:
To: ; ;
If the NT News really wanted a more accurate target they should be
looking towards the government department that helped sink my
relatives' tourism project on Baby Dreaming. For example,
elders were
told (as was I) that they needed a "Certificate 4 in
training" (cost -
several thousand dollars for each person), to teach
particular skills to others.
Also, a Scandinavian birding tour operator offered the community a
donation of a couple of thousand dollars to train residents to show
visitors sandstone birds. My relatives were very excited. But the
money had to go through a birding or conservation organisation. A
Birds Australia spokesman told me it was 'too little' to be worth
their while. And then there's the debacle of the latest
effort to train Indigenous bird guides in Kakadu.
There's plenty of blame to go around, but very little of it
should be
directed at Aboriginal people.
Denise
on 5/10/10 7:15 AM, Bill Stent at wrote:
Simon, I'm not sure that "useful" is quite the word that
I'd use to
describe the NT News article.
"Racist" might be closer. Possibly "patronising" if I
were feeling
more conciliatory.
Not a good hook to get readers to Bird-o.
Bill
--------------------------------------------------
From: "Simon Mustoe" <>
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2010 8:28 AM
To: <>
Subject: [Birding-Aus] Ashmore Reef information
Hi,
ASHMORE REEF
Ashmore reef trips are nearly upon us so we've put together
information for you, on this remarkable place. If you
visit Bird-O
and go to "Birding REGIONS" in the top menu, you'll find
access to
a page about Ashmore Reef and the NW Shelf. You can see
images from
past trips, read about its history and the birds that have been
seen there. There's also new article which summarises
the birding
highlights from the last 14 trips and information on how
you can plan your trip to Ashmore Reef next year.
CENTRAL AUSTRALIA
There's another regional page set up for Central Aus.
This is a way
to support our growing birding tour industry so email us
if you're
interested in being part.
OUTBACK HAS UNSEEN BUCKS
Also of interest, an article in NT News titled "Outback
has Unseen
Bucks" - a useful follow-up to the recent Princess
Parrot debarcle.
http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=%23birdonews
To keep updated with this news, follow us on Twitter,
Facebook or
sign up for the newsletter.
Happy birding!
Simon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simon Mustoe
Tel: +61 (0) 405220830 | Skype simonmustoe | Email
Visit BIRD-O at http://www.bird-o.com Follow BIRD-O on Twitter
http://www.twitter.com/birdodotcom
Like BIRD-O on Facebook? Visit
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/pages/Bird-O/117732794921095
Email BIRD-O at
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