The Across Australia Environmental Expedition will travel from south to north along the route taken by the first Europeans to cross the continent.

In 1860, Burke and Wills led an extraordinary expedition with a mandate from the Royal Society of Victoria to keep detailed records of distance travelled (draw updated maps daily), general terrain, watercourses, water quality, geological formations, soil types, occurrence of minerals, specimens of flora and fauna, meteorological conditions and astronomical observations.

The records of the Burke and Wills expedition provide us, 150 years later, with a well documented baseline for an audit of the environment. How much has changed? What has changed and why? What are the views of the people who are now caring for the country about what needs to be done to improve the sustainability of the environment? How can the wider Australian community learn about and give support to their aims and objectives?

Dr Jonathan King will lead the Across Australia Environmental Expedition to retrace the Burke and Wills track. Departing Melbourne in August on foot with 4WD support the research team will go through Essendon then past Lancefield, past Bendigo, Kerang, Swan Hill, Balranald, Menindee, Tibooburra, Birdsville, Boulia, Cloncurry to the Gulf – following as closely as possible the original 1860 track and timetable where and when it is practical to do so – weather, flooding rains, rugged and impassable terrain permitting. Relays of ACF environmentalists, indigenous rangers and volunteers specializing in issues on each of the 16 two-week sections of the journey, will interview local stakeholders along the way and report findings to a cameraman and reporter who will be sending regular videos, articles and stories to media outlets throughout Australia. The party will walk so they can study issues on the ground with 4WD vehicles following in support, equipped for field studies and media recording.

Jack Thompson, who played the role of Robert O'Hara Burke in the film "Burke and Wills" and who is also a committed environmentalist, is the patron of the Across Australia Environmental Expedition. The Australian Conservation Foundation is a partner in the Expedition, and there will be at least on ACF representative on each of the sixteen legs into which the journey has been divided. Federal Government support is being sought through a "Caring for Country" grant application.

Wanted: Environmental Visionaries

Expedition organiser Dr Jonathan King invites environmentalists, scien­tists, researchers and students to join the expedition to travel on one or more of the sixteen legs of the journey from Melbourne to the Gulf, scheduled to depart - funds permitting - 21 August 2010. He is looking for enthusiastic and hardy scholars with expertise and/or interest in the different issues occurring along the track who can help to compile an up-to-date stocktake of environmen­tal damage, recommend remedial action and fast track repair work. A number of volunteer scientists and environmentalists have already expressed interest in joining, but there are still places available on some of the sections.

Interested? Contact Jonathan at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it