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| Hugh
Jackman – Celebrity Koala
You
may remember him from films such as ‘X-man’ and
‘Swordfish’. What many including Foundation staff
however didn’t know is that he once was one of us.
In
2003 the Foundation received a call from New York’s
Entertainment Weekly. A young reporter wanted to know the
spelling of our historic mascot "Cooee Koala". Hugh
Jackman, the Boy from Oz, had told her in an interview about
his time as Cooee: "The worst job I ever had was when
I was 21 and I worked for the National Parks and Wildlife
Foundation in Australia. Half the time I dressed up as a ranger,
and the other half I dressed up as a six-foot koala bear.
Cooee Koala, I was called. I'd go around the parks and hand
out leaflets. It was so hot in that koala suit, I lost track
of how many times I passed out." |
More than 30 threatened species
projects, over 350,000 hectares of wild places and hundreds of kilometres
of walking tracks – time flies when you are busy!
Dusting the Foundation’s
archives Grace Funk has dug up documents of how it all began and
tells some anecdotes of weird and wonderful moments.
The pioneering days
"Why can’t we have a Foundation?"
reminisced The Honourable Tom Lewis, AO, former NSW Premier and
Minister for Lands and founder of the Foundation for National Parks
& Wildlife (FNPW) on the 30th anniversary of the Foundation.
On his visits to the United States in the 1960s
Mr Lewis "noticed what the Rockefeller -, Ford - and Carnegie
Foundations had done ... My family had an affinity with the bush
and we had properties so I saw a need to conserve ... The whole
concept was new in those days. It seemed that if you had a friend
with a corporate identity, he would know other corporate identities
and that was a way of raising money."
So, on March 12, 1970, the Foundation for National
Parks & Wildlife was established.
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The
Ghosts of the Gap
During
its first 35 years the Foundation moved around a bit. Now
at home on Bligh Street in Sydney’s CBD, previous addresses
included Cadman’s Cottage, the Gap Bluff Centre at The
Gap at South Head.
The
latter left a lasting impression with many employees. Sydneysiders
know about the spooky reputation of the old Quarantine Station
at North Head where the National Parks and Wildlife Service
even runs organised ghost tours. Few people however realise
that there may be just as much supernatural activity at the
Gap.
Working
late in the rooms of the Gap Bluff Centre some Foundation
staff came to witness things that may well have been shadows
of the past. Not everybody heard the strange noises from vacant
offices, but both believers and non-believers had to accept
that the person to finally solve a temperature problem in
one of the offices was not an air-condition technician but
a ghost-buster. Spooky |
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Land
acquisitions: the legacy begins
"I always
felt that if you couldn’t do anything with the land, the best
thing was to acquire it ... That’s why land acquisitions became
the Foundation’s priority in 1970", Mr. Lewis continues.
In the Annual
Report and Notice of Meeting, F. S. Buckley, then president of the
Foundation writes:
"The creation
of the National Parks and Wildlife Foundation (NSW) arose from the
need to provide additional finance for the preservation of an adequate
area of natural terrain and its wildlife; for the development of
a park system by the National Parks and Wildlife Services; and for
the provision of research facilities so that these tasks can be
carried out with maximum effectiveness and efficiency." |
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| 1971
- Foundation Founder Tom Lewis, President F. S. Buckley, the
local Member for Gosford and the Director of the National
Parks and Wildlife Service (from left) visit a property which
the Foundation purchased for Bouddi National Park. Lion Island
is seen in the background. |
"The public
can assist by encouraging commerce and industry to make donations
to the Foundation. The creation of a National Park can in many cases
bring great financial benefits to nearby towns for tourism and gives
control and safety measures to those who wish to indulge in outdoor
activities. Gifts of property and bequests all help to enlarge undertakings
and preserve our environment."
The
legacy continues
With gratitude
and heartfelt thanks to our supporters past and present, the FNPW
continues its mission in "fostering the protection of Australia's
native plants, animals and cultural heritage through fundraising
for environmental education and conservation projects". |
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 Operation
Noah
One of the most memorable Foundation spectacles was ‘Operation
Noah’. Once every year Noah and his animals would land their
Ark at Sydney’s Circular Quay to inform city folk about the
need of conserving wildlife. For a number of years the visit raised
vast media attention and donations for our projects.
‘Operation
Noah’ would perhaps still be our flagship appeal had not the
NSW police chosen to use this name for their own annual event. On
their website you will find an invitation to "participate in
special annual phone ins: ‘Operation Noah’ for Drugs".
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