In between chasing quolls and fixing fences, Arid Recovery also does a lot of community engagement. This blog is going to talk about some of our activities in the past few months.
Dads and Kids Event
What a great event this was. Teaming up with local community groups Strengthening Our Families and Mining Minds, we hosted 35 Dads and Kids on the Reserve with activities like scavenger hunts, GPS orienteering, races, campfires, BBQ dinner and spotlighting. We’re happy to report that the kids slept really well that night! Given its popularity, we’ll be hosting another event soon…keep an eye out for dates.
Wildlife, Cake and Cocktails
Our Principal Scientist, Katherine Moseby, featured on the new podcast Wildlife, Cake and Cocktails, talking about the successes of Arid Recovery and arid-zone conservation over the past 20 years in a special episode about the Book of Hope. This is a new book by the Threatened Species Recovery Hub, full of inspirational Australian conservation success stories. Listen here, our feature starts at 24:18.
School and University Camps
We have recently hosted camps for the Coober Pedy Area School and University of Adelaide Law School. For the Coober Pedy Year 7/8 class, it was a chance to learn bush skills like tracking and GPS, whilst the University’s visit gave budding lawyers a taste of life in the bush. For many, this was their first time camping, using outhouses and having no Vodafone reception. The students watch how we work, live as we live and meet some real country characters. We hope it not only pushed their boundaries, but gave them a great experience while doing so.
Totally Wild
We have featured on kids TV show Totally Wild! We’re appearing in three episodes, talking about what its like to work at Arid Recovery, our bettongs and stick-nest rats. The bettong episode will air Saturday August 18 at 8.30am and feature Holly Cope, a PhD student from the University of Sydney studying bettong contraception. This will be followed by the stick-nest rat episode on Tuesday August 21 at 8am. The first episode has already aired and you can watch it here. Our segment starts at 19:46.
North West Pastoral Field Day
We joined forces with Bush Heritage Australia to host a stall at the SA Department of Environment and Water’s Pastoral Field Day in the small town of Glendambo, SA. 230 people descended upon the town of two petrol stations and a pub and it was a great opportunity to network with local landholders and talk about our conservation and research activities. We also hosted a workshop for School of the Air students, to teach them about outback wildlife and snake safety.
Tours
And our tours are as popular as ever. The grey nomad migration is in full swing, with people coming from far and wide to witness Lake Eyre filling and explore the Northern Territory. Our Roxby Discovery Tour buses are full and there have been many people joining us for Sunset Tours to find our rare wildlife up close. Thanks also to the people who have begun leaving reviews on our TripAdvisor, we really appreciate it.
