17 DECEMBER 2021
Our GEMCO team, in partnership with the Anindilyakwa Land Council recently won an Australian Biosecurity Award.
Our GEMCO team, in partnership with the Anindilyakwa Land Council recently won an Australian Biosecurity Award in the category Best Environmental Biosecurity program, for their work keeping Groote Eylandt free of introduced and invasive plant and animal species such as cane toads.
The island has a unique environment and is recognised nationally and internationally for its outstanding ecological and conservation values. The quarantine and biosecurity program protects the many threatened and endangered species that call Groote Eylandt home.
The program, now in its fifth year, is fully funded by South32 and has resulted in the appointment of a full-time quarantine and biosecurity coordinator, and a specially trained sniffer dog named Edna.
One of the strategies of the program is to develop biosecurity champions within the Indigenous ranger program. These champions work alongside the team, undertaking freight inspections and biosecurity work across Groote Eylandt.
This successful initiative brings together stakeholders across the archipelago to protect the environmental, economic, social, and cultural values for future generations.
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