King Island in Tasmania, Australia is known for its green farmland, cattle and tourism.
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Island → know → farmland
But beneath that landscape is a much older story of forests and native vegetation that once covered large parts of the island.
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that → cover → island
Over about two centuries, large areas of that vegetation were cleared to create farmland, ABC news Australia reported.
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Australia → clear → farmland
The changes affected the island's wildlife, with several native species disappearing and others being pushed towards extinction.
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others → affect → extinction
Raised in a farming culture where native vegetation was removed to make space for agriculture, he spent years doing what many farmers before him had done.
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farmers → raise → him
“I bashed the trees down and burnt everything.
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“I → bash → everything
I was a bash and burner,” Perry says.
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Perry → say → ?
Things changed when their children came home from school and told their father that he needed to do more to protect the environment.
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he → change → environment
For almost three decades now, Perry and his wife, Shona Perry, have been fencing off parts of their property and replanting areas with endemic and native plants.
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Perry → fence → plants
The change was also driven by something Perry noticed on his own land- there were not many birds.
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Perry → drive → land-
“If we didn't get and do something, we would have nothing left on our native vegetation,” he recalls.
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he → get → vegetation
Farmer who changed course
Perry's property, Millwood Station, is still a working farm, and cattle remain part of the operation.
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cattle → change → operation
But parts of the land have been set aside for native vegetation.
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parts → set → vegetation
The Perrys used their own money as well as government grants to fence off areas and, in some places, plant native and endemic species.
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Perrys → use → species
The work has taken most of three decades.
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work → take → decades
Over that period, the changes have gone beyond simply bringing more plants back to the property.
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changes → go → property
“There are multiple things that have accumulated to the positive from that event,” Perry says.
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Perry → be → event
He points to better water quality in creeks and shelter for animals as some of the benefits.
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He → point → benefits
But the change that makes him most proud is the return of birds.
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him → make → birds
“The big thing that we are proud of is the colonies of birds that use the property these days,” he says.
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he → use → property
Perry now uses birds as a way of observing what is happening across his farm.
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what → use → farm
He believes their presence can provide a useful indication of how the ecology of the property is doing.
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ecology → believe → property
“I class the birds as a monitoring part of the property, because birds are smarter than us.
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birds → class → us
While ever I've got these colonies of birds around, I'm doing something right to the ecology of the farm.
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I → get → farm
The birds know what's going on,” he says.
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he → know → ?
European settlement in the early 1800s led to sealing and widespread removal of native vegetation.
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settlement → lead → vegetation
The Island's crisis
Perry's conservation work is taking place against the much larger history of King Island's environmental change.
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work → take → change
The island covers about 1,000 square kilometres, but researchers estimate that fewer than 30 per cent of the island is now covered by native vegetation.
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cent → cover → vegetation
The clearing began after European arrival in the early 1800s.
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clearing → begin → 1800s
Sealing was followed by the removal of vegetation, including efforts to make navigation easier.
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navigation → follow → efforts
The pressure on the island's natural resources continued for generations.
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pressure → continue → generations
Historical records show that several species were lost after European settlement.
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species → show → settlement
The local elephant seal population disappeared soon after European sealers arrived.
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sealers → disappear → ?
The King Island emu, tiger quolls, wombats and various bird and plant species were also lost.
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emu → lose → ?
More extensive land clearing took place in the mid-20th century.
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clearing → take → century
Soldier settlers used modern machinery and tractors to clear and prepare land for agriculture.
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settlers → use → agriculture
By then, the island had already experienced decades of pressure, including fires.
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island → experience → fires
Long way to go
Although Perry's farm has changed, much of King Island's native vegetation remains under pressure.
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much → go → pressure
The remaining scrub provides habitat for the King Island brown thornbill, the orange-bellied parrot and the King Island scrubtit.
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scrub → remain → thornbill
That makes remaining native vegetation important for wildlife on the island.
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vegetation → make → island
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
