Earth Flix screening: Flyways

Earth Flix: Cinema 4 Change, screening our tenth film: Flyways

Synopsis: There are few creatures on earth more inspiring, more symbolic than birds. Each year, millions of shorebirds follow ancient flyways moving from the south of the planet to the north and back again. Like a rising and falling breath, the earth supports this mass movement of life. Yet many of us know little about them. Shorebirds remain an untold story.

What routes do the birds take?

How do they navigate such mind-boggling distances?

How are they able to stay aloft for days without stopping to refuel?

Seeking to answer these and other questions, the film revels in the beauty and wonder of migratory shorebirds. Facing the obstacles of ever-expanding human development, the birds are in serious decline.

Our film offers hope for the future - for both the birds and ourselves.

Panel Discussion:

Penny Walsh is the secretary and bird coordinator of Wingecarribee WIRES. Penny converted her 50-acre property into a wildlife rehabilitation and care centre. Penny says that caring for injured wildlife has become a full-time passion. Penny brings with her a vast amount of knowledge on animal care, rescue and rehabilitation bringing into the event an important local element on our native species.

Ingrid Emery is the Executive Director Biodiversity, Conservation and Science – Regional Delivery in the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. She manages the regional teams that deliver biodiversity and conservation programs and services across NSW, covering water, floodplains and coast; planning; environmental water; ecosystems and threatened species; regulation and compliance; and air policy. Ingrid has nearly 20 years of experience in public policy, economics and infrastructure. She has worked across a range of sectors including water and utilities, transport, housing and financial services, in both the public and private sectors. Ingrid has previously worked at the Port Authority of NSW, NSW Treasury, KPMG and the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Kelly Roche is a Senior Threatened Species Officer with the Illawarra Ecosystems and Threatened Species team. Over the last 24 years Kelly has worked in threatened species recovery, protected area management planning, and has led several large conservation projects. Kelly’s great drive is combining conservation science principles with strategic practical action for change. She’s helped communities living with urban flying-fox colonies shift from crisis to collaborative conservation. She’s run vegetation management trials to find solutions for landholders tackling forest dieback and over-abundant Bell Miners; and her proudest achievement to date is leading a project to reverse decline of the critically endangered Eastern Bristlebird. In the Southern Highlands, you’re most likely to bump into Kelly with a bunch of citizen scientists looking for Glossy Black-cockatoo nests or organising conservation fires for plants like Paddy’s River Box and Wingecarribee Gentian.

We are also screening two short documentaries, one created by SOS - Save Our Species and one by Birdlife Australia, both important both regionally and in their connection to Flyways.

Watch the Flyways trailer below: