70 Australian Geographic
THIS PAGE: BOTTOM: COURTESY TREVOR EVANS; TOP; WOLTER PEETERS; INSET: BEN HANSENOPPOSITE: PETER MORRISPeter Dombrovskis
Peter, who died in 1996, was an
influential wilderness photogra-
pher. He emigrated here with his
parents from Germany in 1950
and began taking pictures in the
1960s. His photograph Morning
Mist, Rock Island Bend, Franklin
River has become an iconic
image of Australian wilderness
since it was used in the 1980s
campaign to stop the damming
of Tasmania’s remote and wild
Franklin River. This landmark
conservation battle spurred the
creation of the Tasmanian
Greens and is credited with
helping Bob Hawke and the
ALP win the 1983 federal
election. Hawke’s government
halted the proposed dam that
would have destroyed the part
of the river captured in Peter’s
photograph (AG 117).
Helene Marsh
Queensland-based, marine
mammal expert and conserva-
tion scientist Helene Marsh
has a passion for dugongs.
These seagrass grazing
inspirations for the mermaid
myth are found in great
numbers along Australia’s
northern coastline (AG 118).
Helene has led research into the
primary threats to dugongs, of
which there are only about
100,000 left worldwide. She has
also contributed greatly to the
science base for dugong
sanctuaries and management
in Australia. Helene is chair of
Australia’s Threatened Species
Scientific Committee and leads
a program looking for sustaina-
ble solutions to human impacts
along the World Heritage-listed
Great Barrier Reef.Trevor Evans
After 20 years as a coalminer, Trevor downed his tools to
embrace conservation full-time. In 1996, armed with an
Ecotourism and Ecosystem degree, he bought 250ha of
degraded NSW bush and created Secret Creek Sanctuary,
which now runs conservation projects for many creatures,
including eastern quolls. In 2001 Trevor co-founded the
Australian Ecosystems Foundation Incorporation (AEFI)
which now manages about 1000ha of land, including
Secret Creek, where it is based. The AEFI has supported
the reintroduction of species, such as the eastern quoll,
previously extinct on the mainland, and plants up to
25,000 native trees a year along degraded lands.Kim McKay
and Ian Kiernan
Ian was appalled by the pollution he saw while
representing Australia in an around-the-world
yacht race in 1986–87. He gathered a group
of friends, including Kim McKay (now director
of the Australian Museum), and planned a
community-based response. Forty thousand
Sydneysiders turned out for Clean Up Sydney
Harbour on Sunday 8 January 1989. The
event went national the following year and
almost 300,000 people got their hands dirty
for Clean Up Australia. In 1993, with the
support of the UN Environment Program,
Clean Up the World was staged. Today this
extraordinary Australian initiative has grown
into one of the planet’s largest community
based environmental campaigns involving
about 35 million people in 135 countries.