Chris Oddie at a local wildlife sanctuary which is supporting the program. (Photo: Quintin Handley)
Story by Quintin Handley
Chris Oddie is a grandmother, a retired cook, and a passionate member of the Lithgow Environment Group (LEG). She lives in Lithgow in a home she and her son have renovated. With other members of LEG, she became increasingly concerned about the growing number of invasive Indian Myna birds proliferating in Lithgow. Mynas were listed among 100 of the world’s worst invasive species by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in 2000.
Key Points:
Indian Myna birds are more harmful than they seem. When they arrive in an area they habitually kill the chicks of native birds, break their eggs, and steal their nesting sites. They also carry dangerous diseases which can be deadly to both native wildlife and humans.
The Lithgow Environment Group carefully weighed up the ethical dilemma of how to reduce the risks these birds pose to humans and wildlife and made the difficult choice to engage early in an eradication program before numbers of the birds expand to unmanageable levels.
A community run program has now removed hundreds of these invasive and dangerous birds from the Lithgow Area in the last eight months.
The negative impact of the Indian Mynas on local wildlife cannot be overstated. They have been known to kill the chicks of native birds, destroy their eggs, invade and evict them from their nesting sites, and prey on rare native insects and lizards. Additionally they carry dangerous diseases which can be deadly to both native wildlife and humans.
While trying to decide how to protect both humans and wildlife, LEG looked into a program initially designed by the Canberra Indian Myna Action Group. They were founded in 2006 to combat the spread of this harmful species in the ACT. Their Myna eradication program has since been exported, adapted, and adopted by other groups around the country to suit their local needs. There are now more than thirty such groups in New South Wales alone. The Canberra based group has removed over 80,000 birds from their area in the eighteen years of their program and seen a significant increase in local bird populations during the same time period.
LEG faced internal debate surrounding the ethical consequences of beginning such a program, mainly focused around whether it was possible to remove enough birds quickly enough to make a serious positive impact. After investigating the results attained by the Canberra based group, LEG concluded that it was possible to run a program that could effectively reduce the local numbers to a level where the environmental benefits outweighed the ethical concerns raised by some members.
There have been precedents around Australia where it has been critical to eradicate introduced species to save local native species.
We wrote about one such precedent in Katoomba Area Local News last year:
“After a ship ran aground near Lord Howe in 1918, an unfortunate stowaway invaded the pristine island: black rats. They decimated the island’s main crop, the Kentia palm seed, and its rare birdlife” (No Man is an Island – The Naturalist, Katoomba Local News).
Fortunately an extensive rat eradication program has resulted in the recovery of the island’s rare birdlife.
After LEG secured a grant from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, Chris put up her hand and began running a community program from her backyard last September. Spearheaded by LEG and run entirely by volunteers, with support from Secret Creek Wildlife Sanctuary and Lithgow Men’s Shed, the program has been ethically and humanely trapping and culling hundreds of Myna birds in Bathurst, Hartley, Wallerawang, Portland, Meadow Flat and Lithgow.
In the wake of their removal native birds have been quickly reoccupying areas, and the local ecosystem is being restored to its natural balance. “There are more native birds coming back,” said Oddie, of the recovery of local wildlife observed by her volunteers in the vicinity of their trapping programs. Superb Fairy Wrens, Black Cockatoos, and Regent Parrots are all birds subject to the Myna’s destructive habits, and soon repopulate areas free of the Indian Mynas.
Strategies we can all take to deter Indian Myna birds
“Mynas like tidy lawns, manicured hedges and hard surface areas, so creating a more bushlike native garden will help keep them away. They are attracted to fruit trees, palms and pines. Removing pet food and covering compost bins will deter both mynas and miners.
Attract more native birds by offering water in bird baths, building myna-proof nesting boxes (PDF 443KB) and planting locally native trees and shrubs – the most deterring habitat is dense tree canopies and thick shrubbery.”
This story has been produced as part of a Bioregional Collaboration for Planetary Health and is supported by the Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (DRRF). The DRRF is jointly funded by the Australian and New South Wales governments.
Yesterday the community gathered to celebrate Sister Jacinta Shailer`s 98th Birthday! Earlier this year at the Planetary Health Centre she urged us all to join a revolution centred in the transformative power of love, by joining heroic communities that foster compassion, justice, care of the needy, creative imagining, ways of life-giving thinking, ways of contemplating the wonders of our world in the small and the large, the weird and the wonderful. Watch an excerpt of her speech here or read our full story published earlier this year in Katoomba Area Local News (link in profile): https://www.katoombalocalnews.com/create-heroic-communities/
Council is calling on the community to contribute to the development of a Community Climate Risk Assessment and Adaptation Plan (CCRAA). There will be a Community Climate Risk and Adaptation Workshop on Saturday 30 August, from 10am to 1pm at Springwood Sports Club, followed by lunch.
You can also contribute by completing the online survey before 29 August.
Your knowledge and experience are critical in helping identify local risks, priorities and practical solutions. Many in our community are already taking action, and these stories, along with diverse perspectives, will help shape a more resilient future for the Blue Mountains.
We encourage you to attend and share the event with your networks to help ensure every voice is heard.
Places are limited for the workshop, so register early here (link in profile): https://climateriskworkshop.eventbrite.com.au Complete the survey here (link in profile): https://yoursay.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/community-climate-risk-and-adaptation-plan-community-survey
The development of this plan is being funded by the NSW Government’s Western Sydney Infrastructure Grant Program.
This video captures the most moving speech at the Peace Symposium: that by journalist and teacher Harumi Hayakawa, who described the true horror and tragedy of nuclear weapons. She went on to describe how, after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the people of both cities dedicated themselves to peace building from the grassroots. Small yet courageous actions by these individuals have reached and changed countless lives in the world. After her presentation, Harumi taught families at the Community Peace Picnic how to fold paper cranes.
At the Peace Symposium, Rotarian Jennifer Scott AM outlined how Rotarians around the world are taking action for peace: from providing mental health first aid in our local community to working for social and environmental justice on a global scale. You can watch an excerpt from her presentation in this video.
In his opening speech for the Peace Symposium Dharug man Chris Tobin shared a Dreamtime story about the Waratah, which emerged from a bloody conflict as a symbol of reconciliation.
@mark_greenhill_oam, Mayor of the City of Blue Mountains, welcomed participants to the Forum: Ban the Bomb, Sign the Treaty at the Blue Mountains Peace Symposium. As a signatory of Mayors for Peace he spoke of the urgency to act to prevent nuclear war and to end the genocide in Gaza.
The Peace Symposium was organised to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
You can watch our full playlist of videos for Making Peace on our YouTube channel (link in profile): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kODwpPinQx4&list=PLBu_QF9Pp5hPoaLWW0ZLHhwS6hPd-x-Rl
View Ecopella`s rousing anthem `You`re Needed Now!` They performed it at the Blue Mountains Peace Symposium on the eve of the March for Humanity and the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Contact them if you`re interested in joining the choir which has branches around Eastern NSW.
If you`d like to hear the other presentations at the Symposium visit the Planetary Health YouTube channel (link in profile)
Renowned Permaculture teacher and Katoomba resident Rowe Morrow has been a Quaker for 40 years. She spoke at the Blue Mountains Peace Symposium about the extraordinary work Quakers have done, and are doing, for Peace, and the strategies they`ve developed: from working to abolish slavery, to being instrumental in starting Oxfam and Amnesty International, to training communities in non-violent communication and conflict resolution, conscientious objection, direct action, divestment strategies and more. You can listen to her discuss these in her presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kODwpPinQx4&t=5s
This week President Trump gave an order for two nuclear submarines to proceed towards Russia. This act was the starting point of Robert Tickner`s talk at the Forum: Ban the Bomb, Sign the Treaty in the Blue Mountains Peace Symposium yesterday.
This week marks the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and, as ICAN Ambassador, Robert Tickner helped launch ICAN`s Week of Action for Abolition at the Symposium. You can listen to his full talk in the video below or view it on YouTube via link in profile:
Despite the very challenging weather for the Peace Symposium yesterday we also enjoyed an indoor `Community Picnic` with delicious food, origami crane and badge making workshops, a book stall by RoseyRavelston books, and wonderful performances by Ecopella and the Bearded Ladies Community Choir. The venue was dotted with historical posters reflecting a long history of the Blue Mountains taking a stand against war and nuclear weapons and we were thrilled to hear during the Symposium that the Supreme Court had authorised the March for Humanity today.
A huge thank you to the @bm_peace_collective, the speakers, very engaged participants, performers, volunteers and staff who helped make the inaugural Blue Mountains Peace Symposium such a success yesterday! We heard from CEO Dr Rosemary Dillon, Dharug man Chris Tobin, journalist and teacher Harumi Hayakawa, Rotarian Jennifer Scott, Quaker Rowe Morrow, artist Matilda Emmerich, Peace Collective members Bruce Cornwall and Catherine Dobbie, Mayor Mark Greenhill, MC Nick Franklin, ICAN Ambassador Robert Tickner, Indonesian ambassador Siswo Pramono, Federal Member Susan Templeman MP and members of the audience. If you`d like to get involved and receive information about future events you can subscribe to receive our newsletter via the Planetary Health website here (link in profile): https://www.bluemountainsplanetaryhealth.com.au/
Quintin is a student studying history at the University of Sydney and a graduate of Penrith High School. He is currently writing for the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative’s Local News and wishes to pursue a career in journalism.
The story of Lithgow Environment Group is a saga spanning nearly two decades of their heroic struggle against fire, local habitat destruction, weak government legislation and in particular, irresponsible mining practices.
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