The Great Bettong Fence of Forde

The Bettong is a kind of kangaroo, so should taste like subterranean Skippy.

It’s not the money, CSIRO says we don’t have any burrowing bettongs, and it looks like we may never have had any burrowing bettongs.

At least when the Government spends money on street art, we can all get bicker for weeks as to what constitutes art.

This media release seems to be that the Government is going to protect something we don’t have (although the yellow box trees will probably appreciate it) AND we are being told it will be an invaluable recreational asset.

Unless the fence is one of those solid colorbond jobbies and the residents of Forde use it as a practice wall for tennis, I don’t see how we get any recreational benefit at all – the whole point would be to keep us all out.

If these natural assets are there and worthy of such extreme protection, why didn’t everyone get excited when the EIS for Forde was released?

Odd – we don’t seem to have any bettong, if you believe this article. It has a map of former burrowing bettong distribution, sites of remnant populations and a fencing example in SA. Even in bettong boom times they don’t seem to have been in the area.

http://www.wildliferesearchmanagement.com.au/bettong.htm

Maybe the fence is more about the yellow box trees?

300k isn’t excatly millions

there will be another announcement when they build the fence for sure

I think we should have an ‘Ode to the Bettongs of Forde’ songwriting competition.

*chuckle*

It looks like we’re going through a phase of being seen to do feel-good environmental projects. This week it was millions of dollars on a demonstration project for the Murrumbudgee River (ie the only merit is that people will see it), and now this.

While fencing off areas has been shown to be a good idea, I’ll be interested to see if those poor little endangered bettongs manage to find their way back here, sneak through the fence, and then survive all the onserving, poking and prodding they’ll get from delighted TaMS staff and pollies.

By the way, this is but a reannouncement from about August (from memory). Once is fine, twice is pushing it. Let’s hope this is the last one.

Probably a bit like chipmunk, I should think.

Granny said :

Let’s all go on a bettong expedition in the wilds of Forde!

I wonder what they taste like 😉

Anyone taking betting on the bettong?

Let’s all go on a bettong expedition in the wilds of Forde!