Who were/are the most iconic conservationists of Australia?

[Hallu]

The more I'm interested in Australia's history of parks and conservation, the more I realize I don't know any iconic conservationist. I know the American ones : John Muir, Stephen Mather, Theodore Rosevelt, Rockefeller Jr., and so on. I'm wondering if they have their equivalent in Australia, or if you know any books (TV show ?) on the history of conservation in Australia. The biggest problem in Australia is that conservation is rarely a nation-wide problem, it's always local. There's no national park service, no federal law for the parks, it's all state-wide, which makes it a nightmare. I dream of a TV show of similar quality to the "First Australians" on SBS but for conservation. Thanks in advance for your help.

[Strider]

Haven't you posted this same question before?

[Hallu]

Nope. I may have mentioned it on another topic a while back but got no answer.

[Hallu]

No one else apart from Steve Irwin and Les Hiddins ?

[Strider]

Bob Brown?

[climberman]

Myles and Milo Dunphy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myles_and_Milo_Dunphy

Marie Byles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Byles

Alan Rigby and group who agitated for the Blue Gum Forest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Gum_Forest , http://www.sbw.org.au/SiteMedia/w3svc85 ... %20AXE.pdf

Bob Brown's legacy would be hard to trump as well.

[Hallu]

Thanks, I'm trying to raise awareness about the state of conservation in Australia for European backpackers. They mostly think it's a paradise, while we have the worst mammal extinction rate in the world, and the worst threatened species rate for reptiles in the world as well. I hope that by looking at the history of conservation in Australia I'll be able to understand more accurately how we arrived to this state, and what could be done to reverse it.

[Clusterpod]

Rodney Fox - does amazing work, especially with great white sharks. Famous for surviving a great white attack.

Annie Forsythe Wyatt, founder of the National Trust and famous for saving large areas of trees and public nature areas.

Tim Low, famous for decades of work with Nature. One of my personal heroes.

Nick Mooney, famous for work on Tasmanian Devil amongst other things.

Francis Ratcliffe, famous for work on erosion and termites and especially for being a founder for the ACF

David George Stead, famous for publications of pivotal works on Australian marine biology.

Its a real sign of the times that some of these names are so poorly known.

[GPSGuided]

...I hope that by looking at the history of conservation in Australia I'll be able to understand more accurately how we arrived to this state...

Greed?

[Hallu]

The thing is conservation is not very popular in Australia. In the US their national parks are sacred, and for centuries they had strong political figures who were conservationists at heart, including 3 presidents (Theodore Roosevelt, FDR, and even Jimmy Carter who saved the Alaskan wilderness). Apart from Bob Brown, there hasn't been one in Australia, one that could really influence the whole conservation idea in the country. In the US, they also have the Sierra Club, very influential and popular. And most of all, the public is behind their parks : hands off is the motto over here. In Australia it's more like "you want to make super tankers go through the great barrier reef ? Sure, fine, go ahead" or "you want one of the biggest uranium mines in the world in the heart of Kakadu, one of the most precious biospheres on Earth ? No worries." and that's really heart-breaking (and still you hear of political dirt-bags who call our parks "locked-up" so that no more should be created...). Tasmania seems the only state where there is a powerful environmental opposition to industrialists. All the other states either turn a blind eye or just go for it.

[Pteropus]

A few have already been mentioned but the contemporary public conservationists that spring to mind are Bob brown, Peter Garret and Tim Flannery. Among scientific circles there is David Lindenmayer, Hugh Possingham, Richard Hobbs, Lesley Hughes and Peter Cullen to name a few. Apart from the Irwins and Lesley Hughse, I struggle to think off the top of my head of female conservationists, but that doesn’t mean that the girls have not had much influence.
In the past there have been people such as Myles Dunphy, Romeo Lahey, Francis Ratcliffe, Ron and Valerie Taylor... i’m sure the list goes on...

[climberman]

Harry Recher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Frederick_Recher also.

[maddog]

John Wamsley: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wamsley

[photohiker]

Warren Bonython. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Bonython

[doogs]

Kevin Kiernan, a UTAS doctor who also helped to create the Australian Wilderness Society with Bob Brown and others. http://www.utas.edu.au/geography-enviro ... in-Kiernan

[Drifting]

Bob Brown

Olegas Truchanas

Peter Dombrovskis

Brenda Heen

Max Angus

Miranda Gibson

and many, many more.

NOT: Peter Garrett

[Pteropus]

NOT: Peter Garrett

Why not? Before he joined the ALP he was heavily involved in conservation activities, including involvement with the Australian Conservation Foundation and Greenpeace. His used Midnight Oil as a voice piece to make people aware of many conservation issues. He used to be quite influential.

[stepbystep]

Helen Gee was an amazing woman.

http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php/art ... cial-grace

[tibboh]

NOT: Peter Garrett

Why not? Before he joined the ALP he was heavily involved in conservation activities, including involvement with the Australian Conservation Foundation and Greenpeace. His used Midnight Oil as a voice piece to make people aware of many conservation issues. He used to be quite influential.

+1
He has probably made a few dubious decisions. My take is he probably thought he could do more good from within a major party than others.......should have joined the Greens instead Pete.

[Oxygen45]

Judith Wright http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Wright