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History of the Society
It would be impossible to list all the work done by the Society since 1909. Some small steps at the time later proved to be important, while the bigger struggles, once won, passed into conservation history.
Society mourns the Death of Dr Vincent Serventy AM BSc BEd DSc
Patrick W Medway AM, President of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia, expressed the great sorrow of both Council and Members on the death of their beloved President of Honour, Dr Vincent Noel Serventy AM, on Saturday 8 September 2007. He passed away in his sleep in a nursing home at Woy Woy, aged 91 years.
"He will be sadly missed by several generations of Australians who had the pleasure of meeting him, working with him or reading his many conservation publications. He was truly regarded by many of us as the 'Father of Conservation in Australia' and his wit and wisdom will be sadly missed," Patrick Medway stated. MORE
Profile: Dr Vincent Serventy
Vin Serventy was President of Honour, Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia, for seven years. Over the sixty years of his environmental work in Australia, and internationally, Vincent Serventy worked to realise his vision of a world whose people understand that we do not own this earth, but are trustees for its future, and that we should live in harmony within nature. MORE
Protection Laws
Our Society pioneered the recognition of the need for legal protection for our animals and plants.
The Wild Bird Plumage Trade
WPSA has played a major part in the banning of the use of wild bird plumage, particularly for women’s hats.
The Koala
The protection of all marsupials was part of the Society’s early work. The saving of the koala was a long fight. Skins labelled ‘wombat’ were being exported to the United States. Our founding President, David Stead, discovered this and wrote to US the President, Hoover, who agreed to ban all skins, however labelled. This was a major victory, and the koala trade, robbed of its most important market, soon ceased.
World Conservation Union
In 1928 the International Union for the Protection of Nature was founded. Our Society was the first non-governmental organisation to join. In 1947, at an international conference attended by eighteen countries, with many non-government organisations, it was decided to reform the organisation. The organisation is now called the World Conservation Union, and is the world’s largest conservation group. The WCU not only watches for species in danger but also recommends the kinds of habitat conservation needed for this modern age.
World Conservation Day
We are proud to have started the world’s first Conservation Day. Some years later the United States followed with Earth Day, and we then began to use their more catchy title.
Gould Leagues
The first League was formed in Victoria even before our Society was established but we helped to form leagues in other states. In the 1950s we canvassed all state groups to change their aim to protect only bird life, to include the conservation of all wildlife, and of habitats. Today every state has its Gould League in the schools and they remain an important educational tool.
National Parks and Other Reserves
Our Society has played a leading part in the reservation of a long list of national parks, including the Morton National Park; Wilson’s Promontory, and many islands along the Australian coastline.
World Heritage Areas
Our Society was important in the creation of many of these. Our Past President of Honour, Vincent Serventy AM, was one of the first World Heritage Commissioners. The Commission encouraged state governments to agree to their lands being nominated. This nomination was vital as it gave the Federal Government legal power to save a region if a state government changed its mind. After the Southwestern regions of Tasmania were nominated as World Heritage, the Tasmanian State Government changed its mind and tried to destroy the Franklin, but the Federal Government by then had the legal means to save the River.
International
Our Society has intervened in world problems at the request of national groups. We have tried, but so far failed, to have set up a Union to conserve the Indian Ocean. We will keep working towards this. We played a major part in the World Conservation Strategy, and the Australian as well as the State Conservation Strategies. We are working for a Declaration of Environmental Rights to complement that on Human Rights, declared in 1948.
The Next Hundred years
By joining the Wildlife Preservation Society you can play an important role in conservation. We hope our next hundred years will be as fruitful as the last has been. Welcome to the task of creating harmony within nature, not only in Australia, but over the whole earth.
FOR MORE INFORMATION please contact our Office on:
Tel: 02 9556 1537 • International: +61 2 9556 1537
Fax: 02 9599 0000 • International: +61 2 9599 0000
Email: info@wpsa.org.au
Post: PO Box 42, BRIGHTON LE SANDS, NSW, 2216, Australia |
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