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LIVE BIRDS FOR TRAP SHOOTINGBANNED
Miss Wigan (President 1933 - 34) wrote to members of parliament for a period of about twenty years from 1930 - 1950 protesting about the killing of live birds for trap shooting, particularly the galah. On December 1958 her protests and those of her supporters were finally heard when the banning of live birds for trap shooting in Victoria was approved by State Parliament. Victoria was the last state to end this cruel sport.
A Force for Bird ConservationBetween 1959 and 1981, the Bird Observers Club consolidated its reputation as a force for conservation.During the 1960s there was growing concern in the community about the environment, epitomised in the organic, back-to-the-earth movement and boosted by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962), raising worldwide awareness of the dangers of environmental pollution. By 1959 there were a growing number of surveys being undertaken by members, and in support of this fieldwork, the first issue of The Australian Bird Watcher was published. Its main purpose was "to enable members to record their field-notes on Australian birds; to publish the results of the various surveys that are being undertaken by members, either alone or as a group; and, finally, to publish the more extensive papers dealing with the distribution, nesting, and general behaviour of groups of birds or individual species." In earlier years articles had occasionally appeared in The Bird Observer, reporting deaths of birds in orchards and gardens, but when Barbara Salter, who lived near golf-links, reported that Wattlebirds were dropping dead in her garden through starvation because there were no insects in the trees, the Club began a campaign of letter writing which culminated in more than 10,000 copies of the ‘Pesticide leaflet’ being sent all around Australia. BOCA was also active in preserving habitat for birds. In 1960 the Club provided money towards the purchase of 115 acres at Tarra
Painting by Neil Douglas: Helmeted Honeyeaters at YellingboBOCA wins Victorian Conservation Prize 1975The artist Neil Douglas offered a series of paintings for the society/association that did most for conservation during any one year. He agreed either to paint an image to suit the award-winning society, or to provide an existing painting through his agent. The Natural Resources Conservation League appointed judges, and approximately 15 clubs each year put in for the prize. There was a very rigorous selection process. The Award was given at Parliament House each year.
ENDING THE PLUME TRADETHE BIRD OBSERVER, APRIL 1976In 1908 the BOC members drew attention to the Plumage Prohibition Bill, which eventually stopped the slaughter of breeding egrets and their plumes, in great demand by the millinery trade. One of the main factors which stopped the killing was a series of excellent photographs by Mr. Arthur H. E. Mattingley (President BOC 1928) of young egrets dying in their nests after being orphaned by the plume hunters. These photographs were shown here and overseas and caused an outcry from those who saw them and the cruelty involved to millions of young birds, that it eventually led to the end of the plume trade.
Why is the BOCA logo on the Land for Wildlife signOne of BOCA's proudest achievements in conservation is the Club’s involvement in the voluntary Land for Wildlife program.Until the middle of the twentieth century, state wildlife managers were concerned mainly with laws relating to fisheries and game, and wildlife management within public reserves. But as long ago as 1973, the Club placed on record its belief that private landowners have a vital part to play in the conservation of wildlife, and began to lobby the Victorian Fisheries and Wildlife Division on the subject.Early discussions bogged down because BOCA was not interested in hunting rights or game reserves. They wanted to talk about the retention and improvement of habitat on private farmland, in shelter belts and farm dam surrounds. They wanted landowners to understand the value of creekside vegetation and of preserving old trees with hollows. These practices are well accepted now but thirty years ago, management for wildlife without ownership of the land was quite a radical concept.However, in 1975, the Wildlife Act acknowledged the need to protect all native wildlife and in 1978 the Victorian Conservation Trust (now Trust for Nature) was established. The time was now ripe to push for a program of voluntary wildlife conservation, but it finally came into being only after many more group discussions, and after the Bird Observers Club had made a strong commitment to support the program by assisting with land evaluation and publicity. Finally, in 1981, the sign was designed and a leaflet outlining the Land for Wildlife concept was produced.On 30th November 1981, the Victorian Minister for Conservation presented the first notice to Mr Noel Fowler, at Winchelsea, and the BOC President, Pat Bingham, presented Mr Fowler with a year’s BOC membership in acknowledgement of the occasion.BOCA still has close ties with Victorian Land for Wildlife. The funding guidelines of our conservation trust, the Australian Bird Environment Foundation (ABEF), have been set in consultation with Land for Wildlife, and are not restricted to bird habitat, but include all native flora and fauna. Wildlife extension officers assist in assessing the value of ABEF’s funding applications, and Land for Wildlife is represented on ABEF’s advisory committee.We would like to express our appreciation of the work of the Victorian Wildlife Department and the Land for Wildlife officers who have worked so hard over the years to broaden the program and turn it into a model for other states to adopt.
Copyright 2005 - 2008Bird Observation & Conservation Australia (ABN 24 005 068 842)
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