The project presented to us by Dr Jonathan King on behalf of the Royal Society of Victoria is one that has great merit. By basing a current day examination of the environmental challenges and opportunities along the route once taken by the explorers Burke and Wills in 1860-1861, the Royal Society can draw national media attention to iconic Australian landscapes and communities.

The route taken by Burke and Wills through Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland traverses some of the most important freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems within Australia.

The project has the potential to create strong connections through the media between past and present Indigenous aspirations in regional and remote Australia, and the issues confronting the fragmented and degraded landscapes of southern Australia, and relatively intact landscapes of northern Australia.

Don Henry
CEO Australian Conservation Foundation