The Wilderness Society makes waves at the Brisbane River Festival - 01/09/07

With thousands of people lining the banks of the Brisbane River as part of Brisbane’s annual RiverFire celebrations, the lively Wild Rivers boat became the focal point for the sunny Saturday afternoon on the river.  

Loaded with huge banners and 100 partying people, the boat alerted Brisbanites of the need to save our remaining wild rivers from the same fate as highly degraded rivers such as the Murray in southern Australia. It was also a great opportunity to thank our hard-working volunteers and supporters.

Local band “The Rooftops” kept the boat crowd moving, with funky beats and a wailing saxophone to celebrate the major successes of the Wild Rivers campaign so far, which include the protection of six wild rivers in Queensland and the Government’s promise of 100 Indigenous Wild River Rangers to care for declared wild rivers and create real, long-term conservation jobs for Indigenous communities.

Thirteen entire wild rivers on Cape York are proposed for protection. Special legislation regarding the future of conservation on Cape York (The Cape York Peninsula Heritage Act) is due to be passed next week by the Queensland Government. This will clear the way for the protection of these rivers and the delivery of Indigenous Ranger jobs.

Today’s Wild River action helped keep the pressure on the Government to ensure this happens.