Towards a vision for Australia's northern tropical rivers
01 Sep 2004
Time: 2.00pm, 1st SEPTEMBER, 2004
Venue: International Rivers Symposium, Wild Rivers Workshop, 249 Turbot Street, The Sheraton, Brisbane.
Australia's tropical rivers and their wetlands, floodplains and estuaries are the most biologically diverse and healthy aquatic ecosystems in Australia today.
These rivers, which hold 70 per cent of Australia's available fresh water, face significant pressures for extraction and agricultural development.
The Australian Tropical Rivers Group, convened by WWF-Australia, is launching its vision for protection of these precious rivers: Securing the North: Australia's Tropical Rivers at the International River Symposium 2004.
River systems winding across the north of Australia, roughly between Rockhampton and Broome, span over eighty major river basins covering approximately 150 million hectares.
Rivers in approximately 80 per cent of these catchments flow freely without dams or significant water resource development, and drain mainly uncleared catchments that largely retain their ecological integrity and species diversity.
Australia's tropical rivers support over 100 species of freshwater fish and millions of waterbirds that feed in wetlands and estuaries during their southward migration from the northern hemisphere.
The Australian Tropical Rivers Group includes:
Professor Angela Arthington
Centre for Riverine Landscapes, Griffith University, Brisbane
Dr Stuart Blanch
Freshwater Manager with WWF-Australia and Convenor of the Australian Tropical Rivers Group
Professor Stuart Bunn
Director, Centre for Riverine Landscapes, Griffith University, Brisbane
Dr Max Finlayson
National Centre for Tropical
Wetlands Research, Darwin
Professor Stephen Garnett
Professor of Tropical Knowledge, Charles Darwin University, Darwin
Professor Arthur Georges
Director, Applied Ecology Research Group, University of Canberra
Dr Richard Kingsford
Principal Research Scientist, NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, Sydney
Professor Richard Pearson
School of Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville
Professor Robert Wasson
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin
Dr John Williams
Former Chief, CSIRO Land and Water, and Member of The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists
