Strengthening connections with Indigenous Rangers
- BirdLife Northern Queensland
- Jun 17
- 2 min read
Denis Walls | Convenor
BirdLife Australia’s (BLA) Wetland Birds Monitoring Coordinator, Simon Kennedy, and BirdLife Northern Queensland's (BLNQ) Convenor, Denis Walls, attended the recent Indigenous Ranger Event at the Cairns Convention Centre: a gathering of Senior Rangers and Coordinators from across northern Australia, including Torres Strait. The event provided an invaluable opportunity to strengthen partnerships, share knowledge, and support the vital work being done by Indigenous Ranger Groups across Country.
Simon and Denis connected with Clinton and Glen, Queensland Government Land and Sea Management Rangers from Pormpuraaw, who shared insights into their ongoing monitoring of wetlands near their Community. These wetlands are of high conservation value, providing important seasonal habitat for migratory shorebirds, particularly the Bar-tailed Godwit.
Clinton and Glen said that the Pormpuraaw Rangers carry out regular bird counts and habitat assessments, reporting that the area is currently in good ecological health.
I thought it was interesting that the Rangers’ work underscores the fact that while locations such as Cairns are often seen as key stopover points along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, other lesser-known sites, such as Pormpuraaw, play an equally vital role in supporting migratory bird populations during their long intercontinental journeys.
Simon and Denis also met with Alice, the Coordinator of the Land and Sea Management Program at Boigu Island in the Torres Strait. Alice expressed strong interest in learning more about the region’s avifauna – especially the vagrant bird species that occasionally reach the Torres Strait islands.
These vagrants, often arriving from Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, or beyond, can appear due to weather systems or navigational drift. Their presence in places like Boigu offers valuable clues about migration dynamics, climate shifts, and species distribution, and highlights the unique importance of Australia’s northernmost islands for bird research and biodiversity monitoring.
The event also offered a chance for Simon and Denis to reconnect with long-standing colleagues and friends within the conservation sector, and to discuss current projects and shared goals. For Simon, it was an opportunity to explain the scope of his work coordinating national wetland bird monitoring, and for Denis, a chance to showcase BLNQ’s local activities and community engagement.
Indigenous Ranger Groups are important participants in conservation efforts in Australia. Their programs are grounded in deep cultural knowledge and long-term custodianship of land and sea. These teams carry out essential work in biodiversity protection, fire and invasive species management, and ecological monitoring - often in some of the most remote and ecologically significant parts of the country. Their contributions to bird conservation are invaluable, particularly as many threatened species and key habitats fall within the areas these rangers care for.
This event reinforced the shared commitment to protecting Australia’s birds and their habitats and highlighted the importance of ongoing collaboration between BirdLife Australia and BirdLife Northern Queensland, and Indigenous ranger teams.
Note: ChatGPT was used to write this article based on Denis' debrief after the event.
