Dear members
As a contributor to the establishment of Gluepot Reserve I was thrilled to
finally be able to visit the reserve with my husband, during our 3-month long
trip (birdwatching and general holidaying) throughout Australia.
Others have already sung the praises of Birds/Birdlife Australia's fantastic
work at Gluepot and we fully agree with those.
We had a great time there and saw many birds that were new to us. For a
reserve that's obviously run on a limited budget, and (by UK standards at
least) has very low visitor numbers, we were pleasantly surprised with the
facilities provided to visitors.
The purpose of my email is to bring to members' attention a, to us, rather
unusual decision taken by the Gluepot board. We've been reading birding-aus
when we can during our trip but this issue seems to have escaped attention. It
appears that the Gluepot board is proposing to construct a library at a
proposed cost of almost $30,000. Having spent a number of days at the Reserve,
and talking to the people there, this seems to me a rather odd decision. The
rangers and other staff appear to be volunteers. Given the limited finances
that the organisation no doubt has to operate within, and given the state of
for example Black-eared Miners (critically endangered and still declining),
Malleefowl (only one active mound left which was destroyed by a fox?), we
question the need for this project. However we are not close enough to the
action to be fully aware of all the intricacies surrouding the proposal, nor do
we wish to be. We merely thought it worth bringing to members' attention,
in order to stimulate some discussion amongst those that are better informed
than us.
We're off to the Flinders Ranges and Oodnadatta track next. Happy birding!
Laura & Warwick Phibbs
en-route somewhere in Oz
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