The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) is gearing up to host its much-anticipated 21st General Assembly and Scientific Symposium in Sydney August 31 - September 9. The overarching theme, "Heritage Changes," is a clarion call to examine the dynamic shifts shaping the 2020s and the pivotal role heritage plays in driving positive change and fostering a sustainable future. Find out more here.
It is our great pleasure to formally announce the appointment of Jane Powles as our CEO. Jane brings an impressive skill set, experience and background to the role, including executive leadership, policy development and advocacy in a range of for-purpose organisations. Jane comes with a strong passion for working collaboratively to drive change for a more just, equitable and sustainable world and is looking forward to supporting conservation efforts in the region.
After 2 years of teaching online, we are thrilled to once again be able to offer our field-based course on Applying the Conservation Standards.
From 12th -16th September 2022 we will be hosting conservation professionals from across Australia and the Asia-Pacific at the Katoomba Convention Centre for a 5 day intensive, collaborative learning experience in residence and in nature. Registrations of interest are now open, with enrolments closing at the end of July.
In late 2020, the Protected Areas Collaboration for Learning & Research (PAC) was established as a joint venture between the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. In 2021, The Nature Conservancy also joined the venture through a Memorandum of Understanding. A comprehensive update on the activities and initiatives of the PAC joint venture can be viewed here: https://www.bmwhi.org/protected-areas-collaboration
The Institute is pleased to support the release of the independent documentary ‘Mining the Blue Mountains’ by filmmaker James O’Connor, investigating mining pollution in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage area.
The film features Dr Ian Wright, a BMWHI research associate and WSU water scientist who has been studying pollution from mines and the related impact on waterways in the World Heritage Area for over ten years.
We’re proud to release a short film documenting the story behind our recent ‘Recovery’ exhibition. The project involved a creative collaboration between artists and scientists to respond to one of the most challenging natural disasters in recent history.
In tandem, we’re thrilled to launch the Eco-Art space, an online place for eco-artists to network, collaborate and showcase their work as well as serving as the host of the Recovery exhibition.
The public is invited to join the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute and the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre for a free weekend of seminars celebrating and showcasing eco-arts in the Blue Mountains and beyond.
The seminars will also provide the first look at the BMWHI Recovery online exhibition - a collaboration between scientists, artists and writers exploring the aftermath of the devastating 19-20 fires.
We’ve been overwhelmed by the support we have received over the last year from our members, donors, granting bodies, associates, board and volunteers. Thanks to their generous contributions, we were able to keep operating throughout the pandemic and deliver important research outcomes in the critical aftermath of the bushfires. We’d like to formally acknowledge all our supporters and express our sincere gratitude to our entire giving community.
The second phase of our Blue Mountains Upland Swamps project is now underway.
A monitoring program has been implemented, equipment has been procured and installed, our citizen scientists have been inducted, the first official data collection expedition has been completed, and the first dataset has now been analysed. The development of an online decision support tool for assessing impacts and informing restoration efforts is also in progress.
The Institute has been awarded a grant of $130,000 from the Australian Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources through their Bushfire Recovery for Wildlife and Habitat Community Grants Program.
The project will engage scientists and the community in conducting critical post-fire fieldwork in the Grose Valley region of the Blue Mountains, to inform remedial actions and preparations for future fire events.
In 2020, the Peter und Luise Hager Foundation in Germany gifted the Institute a generous €30k Euro donation to support our bushfire recovery efforts, monitoring and assessing the impacts of fire on flora and fauna in key areas across the Blue Mountains national park.
Knowing that there is still more work to be done, they have again supported us with another €10k Euro in 2021.
The Australia Council for the Arts has granted the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute $78,500 for a project starting in 2021 that will link creative artists with our community of citizen scientists who monitor fire recovery and climate change impacts in the Blue Mountains.
The project will record and develop citizen science stories and collaborate on presentations of the resulting image-sound-story work, culminating in multi-artform exhibitions including a mix of live events and web-based digital arts.
Covid-19 has changed Australia’s focus, but it hasn’t changed the fact that flora, fauna and whole ecosystems are still struggling to recover from the summer wildfires that affected over 800,000 hectares of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and the torrential rainfall that followed immediately after.
BMWHI is grateful to the following organisations who are supporting our monitoring, impact assessment, recovery and communication efforts through these challenging times.
