Toad Media
MEDIA RELEASE
26 January 2006
Toad expert appointed
When it comes to frogs and toads Graeme Sawyer is widely recognised
as the guru for northern Australia.
Left to right) Stop The Toad Foundation State coordinator Dennis
Beros, Graeme Sawyer and Derek Monks
And...he's just been appointed as Stop The Toad Foundation's regional
co-ordinator for Northern Australia.
His job will be to liaise between the Kimberley Toadbusters, Stop
The Toad Foundation and the Department of Conservation and Land
Management CALM).
Although based in Darwin, he is no stranger to the East Kimberley
having taken part in forums in WA and attended Kimberley Toadbusters
exercises, instructing people in all aspects of the fight to stop
cane toads entering WA.
Graeme intends to split his time between Darwin and Kununurra in
his new role.
He will be assisted by local man Derek Monks, known to many from
his time as a presenter on Waringarri Radio.
Derek's job will be to organise the 'nuts and bolts' at the local
level.
Stop The Toad Foundation State Co-ordinator Dennis Beros was in
Kununurra last week with the two new appointees meeting the main
interested parties.
On Thursday morning, the trio sat down to discuss some of the issues
that have arisen between Kimberley Toadbusters, Stop the Toad and
CALM.
It was agreed that the three would work more closely together.
Graeme was originally a teacher, who, eight years ago moved into
multimedia technology and business.
He has always been keen on environmental education and has been
a dedicated member of the NT Frogwatch environmental group, which
has involved 'frog conscious' people in the NT and spearheaded the
move to fight off the cane toad front advancing on Darwin.
The group's activities were the first serious attempt by a community
group to halt the advance of the introduced pest.
Graeme has also been involved in a WWF project on frogs and is
a member of the National Cane Toad Taskforce.
He called on the community to 'stand up and be counted' in the
fight against the toad.
"I think this is something that we can do and show others
that it can be done," he said.
"It's crunch time and if we can't prove by this time next
year that we are having a significant effect, then we're just p***ing
into the wind."
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