Page 256 - Be Reasonable – Do It My Way , Peter E. Daly AM, My Story

CHAPTER 24 - SEAL ROCKS, MELBOURNE ZOO AND AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPE TRUST (CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROPERTIES)
AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION
For a number of years, I have been Chairman of a not for profit Trust known as Australian Landscape Trust.
The Trust addresses environmental quality and landscape working with government and local people. Land owners today face ‘environmental debt”, the legacy of past practices ill-suited for Australian conditions. “Environmental debt” must be discharged, doing so is hard work.
The Trust employs professional scientists and land managers whose skills and experience are applied to repairing land degradation. Staff offer informal education to community members who also wish to restore the biological functions of some 350,000 hectares on Calperum and Taylorville Stations. These properties were purchased with private and government funds and recently given to the Trust by the Australian Government.
The Trust achieves its goals without expenditures of large sums of money by applying science, innovation and the practical knowledge of farmers to revegetation, controlling erosion, restoring soil fertility and protecting wildlife. To care for this large area, many community members volunteer to do the necessary day-to-day tasks. Annually they give an average of 12,000 hours and have done so for over 20 years. Rotary in South Australia is one of the largest volunteer groups apart from local residents. Rotarians help with research, maintenance and delivery of conservation education programs.
Calperum and Taylorville Stations are in the semi desert zone of South Australia (220 mm rainfall). The properties contain mallee woodlands and a flood plain of the Murray River. Both are important for the Australian Government.
256