The TCT’s 40th anniversary retrospective exhibition went on display at the Launceston Environment Centre last month. The exhibition was launched in Hobart last September (see The Tasmanian Conservationist, September 2008) and is a pictorial history featuring some of the major campaigns undertaken by the TCT since its inception in 1967. The driving force behind the Launceston display and Master of Ceremonies on the night was TCT Councillor Neville Gray, who said it was essential to involve TCT members throughout the state. ‘It is important that members are able to see and appreciate the diversity of the work undertaken by the Trust if we are to retain and grow our membership’, he added.
The exhibition was officially opened by media personality and gardening expert Peter Cundall, who treated everybody present to an entertaining mix of indignation and frustration at the short-sighted and greed-motivated exploitation of Tasmania’s natural resources. He recounted how he had visited Queenstown not long after he arrived in Tasmania in 1955 and had viewed the devastation of the surrounding hills created by the Mount Lyell mine.
This theme was reinforced by long-time member Peter Fleming, who also spoke at the opening, detailing his long involvement in the TCT’s northern branch. He recalled how, at one point, the frustration he felt at the Trust’s more moderate approach to issues had seen him focus his energies towards the Wilderness Society’s forestry campaigns. The last speaker, current TCT Director Peter McGlone, outlined some of the current priority activities (review of the Forest Practices Code, private land conservation and 1080 poisoning of wildlife) as well as commenting on the different approach the TCT takes to conservation issues.
It is anticipated that the exhibition will go on display in Burnie/Devonport later this year.
John Forsyth