As a keen wildlife supporter I am passionate when it comes to protecting Australian species. It always annoys me when I see how the mammalian species – Homo sapiens on this planet feel that they can do whatever they please without any consideration of the broader picture.

So when a news heading such as this “Orchard charged over parrot deaths” catches my eye it tends to start twitching manically.

I searched Google for more information on the company and found a link to where to send off my protest email.

It was a bit of a rant and rave session about how I would boycott their product and tell anyone I met to do the same.

I never expected to hear anything more of it. But the very next day I received a response! (See below) So at least outwardly it appears they took the matter seriously, although when you read the name of the person that responded you might wonder…

In preparing this blog entry I was stuck for a title until I noticed that on the same day I received their response they also produced a media release.

The response:

Dear Mr Kritic,

Thank you for your communication concerning the destruction of parrots of a protected species on an almond orchard managed by our company. We fully understand your concerns about this incident.

Select Harvests Limited were advised by the Department of Sustainability and Environment “DSE” in late November 2006 of the destruction of parrots of a protected species near an almond orchard managed by the company. The company has cooperated fully with the DSE investigation into this incident.

The company regrets that this incident occurred and has informed the DSE that the employees involved were not acting under instruction from the company. The DSE were also informed that the destruction of the parrots was contrary to the policies and procedures of the company in place to protect wildlife. The DSE has been informed that following an internal investigation by the company into the incident two employees who were involved were dismissed for serious misconduct.

The company takes its environmental responsibilities seriously, has a good

record in environmental management to date and adheres to environmental plans that preserve the habitat of native species. Almond developments have had a positive environmental impact. The change in land use and the increase in food source has seen a rejuvenation of remnant native vegetation and an increase in the wildlife population, in particular bird species.

Prior to the incident the company had comprehensive policies in place to protect wildlife. To ensure a similar incident does not reoccur in the future, the company has since the incident undertaken a full review of all policies and procedures and developed an updated wildlife management plan which has been presented to the DSE for approval. The company has recently appointed an Environmental Manager who has responsibility for implementing and monitoring this plan. All staff involved in wildlife management at orchards managed by the company have been re-inducted in our policies and procedures and undertaken extensive retraining.

Yours sincerely

John Bird
Managing Director
Select Harvests Limited

So after reading both, and in keeping with this whole bird theme, I now have a Chicken and an egg and it’s left me wondering which came first?

Comments

  1. Pookie said:
    25 May 10:47 pm

    wow – 40 birds?! Not exactly a case of mistaken identity…

  2. Emmy said:
    17 June 6:11 pm

    That’s not just logic. That’s really sensible.