January. February 65OPPOSITE: TOP: GLENN CAMPBELL/FAIRFAX MEDIA; BOTTOM: LYNDON MECHIELSEN/NEWSPIX; THIS PAGE: TOP LEFT: COURTESY ANNA ROSE; TOP RIGHT: MITCH REARDON
John Wamsley
He was the prime minister’s 2003 Environmentalist of the Year, but this
controversial conservationist is probably best known for his feral cat
skin hats. Regardless of whether or not you agree with his methods,
John made Australia sit up and take notice with regard to the nation’s
appalling mammal extinction record (the world’s worst); 30 species and
subspecies, mostly marsupials, have become extinct since Europeans
arrived. Many of these extinctions are linked to cats and other feral
species. John was instrumental in getting the law changed so that
people wouldn’t be prosecuted for shooting feral cats. He was the first
property manager in Australia to fence off feral-free enclosures to
protect wild-living native animals, such as bilbies, from feral predators.Anna Rose
Anna, who was the AG Society’s 2014 Conservationist of the Year
and is now on our expert advisory panel, has been campaigning about
climate change since she was just 14. In 2014 she spearheaded
Earth Hour Australia’s transition from an annual event to a year-round
social movement (AG 119). She is now national manager for Earth
Hour with WWF Australia. Among many other achievements, Anna
co-founded the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, now one of our
largest youth organisations. She made headlines in 2012 when she
travelled around the world with former Liberal senator Nick Minchin,
to try to change his mind on climate change, resulting in the
publication of the book Madlands: a journey into the climate fight.Margaret Blakers
Born in 1951, Margaret says she
became an environmentalist in
high school after reading the
landmark 1962 book Silent
Spring. Written by American
marine biologist Rachel Carson,
the book is credited with
kick-starting the environment
movement. During a lifetime
of tireless work, Margaret
coordinated the first Atlas of
Australian Birds, as well as the
environmental movement’s
response to the Victorian
Timber Industry Inquiry. She
set up the Victorian Greens,
worked as an advisor to Bob
Brown and organised the first
Global Greens Congress. In
2008 Margaret established an
environmental think tank, the
Green Institute, where she still
serves as director.Harry Butler
Harry began an environmental
consultancy career in the
1960s, which has seen him
work with corporate clients and
government bodies. His support
for building connections
between environmental
conservation and
industrial
development is
seen in his work
with the Barrow
Island oilfield.
Many Australians
will recall Harry as
the presenter of the late-1970s
television series In the Wild,
which popularised science
and natural history for both
children and adults. Harry’s
conservation work has seen
him acknowledged as a
National Living Treasure.Jeffrey Lee
As the last Djok clan member,
Jeffrey could have sold his
people’s land for uranium mining
and pocketed $5 billion. Instead,
the senior custodian of a parcel
of pristine bush called the
Koongarra, which
contains many
tonnes of
uranium, spent
decades fighting
to have the site
protected as World
Heritage. He achieved
this in 2013 when the 1228ha
site, which contains sacred
burial areas and rock art, was
brought into Kakadu National
Park. “Money comes and goes,”
Jeffrey told us (AG 117). “You
can always make money other
ways, like with visitors, but you
can’t replace that land.”Felicity Wishart
Felicity Wishart, who tragically
died in 2015 aged just 49, was
one of Australia’s leading
conservation advocates. During
three decades, Felicity was
involved in campaigns to stop
land clearing in Queensland and
preserve the Great Barrier Reef
and Australian rainforests.
Some of Felicity’s earliest work
was with the Wilderness
Society to protect the Daintree
in the late 1980s. More recent
efforts saw her take a major
role in protecting our oceans
through the creation of a
network of marine protected
areas around the nation. “All
Australians, whether they
realise it or not, owe a debt of
gratitude for her work,” said the
Australian Marine Conservation
Society following her death.30 YEARS OF AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC