Revisiting the RRR Conference – Part 2 – Breaking long-term deadlocks to restore wetlands on public and private land
Next up in this series (note: you can see Part 1 here) of short 2-page papers I wrote-up after presenting at the Restore, Regenerate, Revegetate (RRR) Conference in Armidale last year, is a story describing how NGT worked with a wide range of people to progress two proposed restoration projects that stalled for many years (for different reasons) and as a result had become a source of frustration and tension in each local community.
The two case study sites we look at in this paper are:
- Gooseneck Swamp and Brady Swamp
- Long Swamp (which was also recently announced as a key part of the Glenelg Estuary and Discovery Bay Ramsar site – Australia’s newest Ramsar site)
Being part of delivering a solution in both of these cases has been a really rewarding experience, and I hope there will be something in these reflections that may be helpful to others confronted with similar challenges elsewhere. I might add that this goes beyond environmental outcomes too – I have built some lasting friendships with some wonderful people as a result of this work.
Sharing this story is also particularly timely, because I can state that – without doubt – the recently announced Walker Swamp Restoration Reserve simply would not have come about, if it were not for the process of communication and relationship building that took place over several years, in the course of delivering the successful (and now completed) restoration projects at Gooseneck Swamp and Brady Swamp.
To find out more, you can read the full article as a pdf here: NGT RRR Paper 2 – Breaking long-term deadlocks to restore wetlands – Page 11 and 12
Enjoy!
The case study sites:
Upper Wannon River wetlands (Brady Swamp, left) and Long Swamp (right)
