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Santa Teresa Road Rufous-crowned Emu-wren site RIP

To: Mark Carter <>
Subject: Santa Teresa Road Rufous-crowned Emu-wren site RIP
From: Denise Goodfellow <>
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2015 10:16:26 +0930
Mike, Would you mind if I forwarded your email to our Minister for Tourism, 
Adam Giles and a few others?


Denise Lawungkurr  Goodfellow
PO Box 71
Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841
043 8650 835

PhD candidate, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW.

Founding Member: Ecotourism Australia
Nominated by Earthfoot for Condé Nast’s International  Ecotourism Award, 2004.

With every introduction of a plant or animal that goes feral this continent 
becomes a little less unique, a little less Australian.
















On 19 Mar 2015, at 10:02 am, Mark Carter <> wrote:

> Hi All,
> Bad news folks. Many of you will know the classic "Tyre-in-the-pole" 
> Rufous-crowned Emu-wren site on the Santa Teresa Rd south of Alice Springs. 
> The eastern half of the site was burnt out in a huge wildfire in 2011, and 
> sadly I can report that the western half of the site now appears to be on the 
> route for a new stretch of road that is being constructed. I was on the site 
> on Monday as part of my normal bird tour route and witnessed an excavator 
> clearing old-growth spinifex and demolishing the rocky ridges pretty much in 
> the centre of the resident Emu-wren's home range. As the vegetation is dry 
> and temperatures are high I wouldn't be surprised if a spark from a excavator 
> blade didn't start a fire in the remaining spinifex. Work is already 
> progressed so the time to influence the route has long gone. We local birders 
> are all flat out with our own projects, jobs and lives (!) and somehow missed 
> the plans to re-route the Santa Teresa Rd right through this important 
> birding location. The Emu-wren occurs at many other locations in the region, 
> I have some good alternative sites to take birders for this species but it 
> breaks my heart to think that I won't see the sun rise from that hill while 
> Emu-wrens and Grasswrens frolic at our feet ever again. Should the spinifex 
> stands to the west escape being burnt or cleared during this construction, in 
> time the site will be usable again for birding but I think in the meantime 
> its effectively finished.
> The moral of the story is if you have a place you love birding never assume 
> its safe- we have to do what we can to safeguard these places both for the 
> birds and ourselves or we'll be left with nothing. 
> 
> Regards
> 
> Mark Carter
> 
> Birding and Wildlife.com
> T ++61 (0) 447358045
> 
> http://www.birdingandwildlife.com
> ABN 31234450010
> 
> 
> 
> 
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