A letter co-signed by a consortium of environmental community groups has been sent to Mount Alexander Shire and Central Goldfields Shires seeking their support to have duck shooting banned in the Cairn Curran Reservoir area. 

Signatories say the activity is no longer appropriate for safety reasons, and the area would be better served as a sanctuary to protect threatened species.

The move follows a community petition held in May 2021, to ban bird shooting in the area and turn it into a sanctuary, which obtained 483 signatures, mostly local. 

This compares to a petition by shooters to have duck shooting remain, which only achieved 21 signatures, 11 local.

A spokesperson for Regional Victorians Opposed to Duck Shooting (RVOTDS) said “It’s disappointing that GMW appear to be ignoring community sentiment, and safety risks. Since its construction, Cairn Curran now has many more residents living in proximity, and many more people keen to enjoy the amenity. The adverse impacts to community are clear, as the comments on the petition show.”

BirdLife Castlemaine District, Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club and Friends of the Box IronBark Forests -Mount Alexander Region, co-signed the letters from RVOTDS inc to local shires, and MP Maree Edwards, seeking their support to pick up the fight. 

“We understand Council can’t ban it. We are asking them to lobby those who can, and represent ratepayers and other recreational users who want a safer, more peaceful public amenity.”

In the year ending December 2019, over 1.4 million tourists birdwatched around Australia, and spent $2.88 billion. More domestic overnight tourists birdwatched, than visited the Great Barrier Reef, and the number of international tourists who birdwatched was more than double those who fished (Tourism Research Australia – National Visitor Survey). 

“We believe these are the tourist dollars we are largely missing out on due to duck shooting,” said a spokesperson for RVOTDS.

“Less than half of one percent of the population, (about 25,000 people) are licensed to shoot ducks. About half that number again (around 12,000), actually participate in the activity (– GMA data). But there are anywhere between 8,000- 35,000 public waterways – no government authority has been able to quantify it for us yet – where they can go to shoot birds. Surely Cairn Curran could be handed back to the local residents and the 99.98 percent of the non-shooting public to enjoy in peace.”

This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 12 November 2021.