“Cotton farms are good for the environment” is a headline I would love to see splashed across the front pages of our daily newspapers. The fact that I won’t see this headline soon says a great deal about perceptions. Some in the conservation movement like to cite cotton growing as the archetype of unsustainable agriculture, unfairly in my opinion. Unfortunately, the general perception gained by our poorlyinformed and largely urban public is of a resource-hungry industry living beyond its natural resource means.
And the reality? In the broadest sense, western agriculture, including cotton growing, practiced in Australia has been highly detrimental to our flora and fauna especially in its impacts on woodlands and wetlands. However, in recent years the cotton industry has made significant steps to address, and rectify its impacts on the environment as evidenced by the most recent environmental audit, and the wider adoption of the BMP Program. The conservation movement must acknowledge, encourage and support the cotton industry’s clear intention to achieve ecologically sustainable production.
Birds Australia’s motto is “conservation through knowledge.” This book is all about helping cotton growers to increase their knowledge and understanding of our native birds, the habitats on which they depend and the threats they face. Birds are important and give great joy in their own right, but they are also indicators of environmental health. Armed with this knowledge we are confident that cotton growers will see birds in a new light and will realise that there is much they, individually and collectively, can do to conserve our birds and more broadly our unique flora and fauna. Congratulations to Greg and Nicci for this most useful book and thank you to everyone who has contributed and funded its production.
Dr Graeme Hamilton CEO Birds Australia
Much is said about the plight of biodiversity in agricultural lands, and much is being done by land managers to ensure that biodiversity is maintained amidst profitable production systems. The Australian cotton industry is at the fore-front of developing sustainable best management practices for cotton lands, ensuring a positive future for both their industry and the natural systems that support it.
In developing and engaging in best management practices, landholders are becoming acutely aware of the need to better understand the ecosystems and native species that play such a vital role in sustainable production. Many farmers are now looking for guidelines on appropriate management of natural systems and the species and communities that live within them.
Recent research and long-term observations on birds in agricultural landscapes have shown that our feathered friends are very good indicators of the health of ecosystems from landscape to farm scale. This knowledge, and the fact that most farmers are keen observers of the birds in their landscape, means that bird monitoring can provide an excellent insight into the progress of farm enterprises along the road to best management practice
The intention of this book is to provide an easyto- use guide to who’s who among the birds, what some of them can tell us about landscape health and some practical information on what can be done to ensure the birds have places to live, eat and breed for generations to come.
We expect the guide to become an important tool for farmers who are developing best management practices and monitoring the outcomes of their improving land management.
We hope it finds a place on many a kitchen table, as well as becoming a permanent fixture in the glove-box of farm utes across the cotton production region of central-eastern Australia.
Please, enjoy using this book as you find delight in the colourful diversity of birds on your place and become comfortable in the knowledge that you can provide a secure future for them. And do pass on this deep understanding and appreciation to your peers and future farming generations.
Greg Ford , Nicci Thompson
APRIL 2006
For Rohan, Callum, Stuart, Erin and all the children of the floodplains.
May they inherit a living landscape, alive with wonderful biodiversity and brimming with profitable agricultural ecosystems.
