It is with great sadness that we let you know Graham passed away peacefully on Tuesday, 27 August. He was with his wife Gill, and son Rhidian and family who were visiting from Sydney. Graham was a part of Birdlife Northern Queensland since it's inception and a friend to all of us. We will miss him greatly.
A celebration of Graham's life was held at the Mountain View Chapel in Atherton on Wednesday, 4 September. A recording of the service is available here:
In lieu of flowers donations to BirdLife Australia in Graham's memory would be appreciated. All donations will support urgent action to save Australian birds facing extinction. Please write a note in honour of Graham as you donate.
We have received many messages of condolence and beautiful memories of a much loved, very cheeky, and accomplished man who lived life to the fullest and gave so much to those around him. Please scroll down to read them below.
If you would like to share a memorial to Graham, please email it to Contact Call Editor Jenn Muir at muirenv@iinet.net.au
Dr Graham Harrington 1935–2024
Graham was a towering giant of conservation in Australia, whose passion to foster a love of birds and nature in those around him reflects what makes BirdLife unique and special. Conservation requires people to both study and champion nature, and Graham’s wisdom and actions absolutely delivered on both fronts. He ensured everyone with a passion to help was able to join, learn, and become experts in their own right, regardless of their background.
Graham’s contributions to Australian birds and BirdLife Australia since the 70s have been immense and critical. As a highly regarded research scientist and leader in both rangeland agriculture and tropical rainforest ecology, he considered a sound scientific basis as one of the core strengths of BirdLife Australia. This is a legacy that lives and breathes through all the work we do today.
A summary of just some of his achievements:
In 1994, at the inaugural meeting of the North Queensland chapter of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, he was voted in as the first convenor. This inaugural branch ambitiously encompassed a huge area from Mackay north to the Torres Strait and across to the Northern Territory–Queensland border.
Graham was an integral part of what is now known as BirdLife Northern Queensland (BNQ). Graham’s committee roles included Convenor 1994–1998 and 2004–2005, Conservation Representative (2001–2002, 2004 –2008), IBA/KBA coordinator (2005–2018), Grasswren Survey Coordinator (leading the first surveys in 2008 up to 2018 when he “retired” as coordinator but is still a critical member of the coordination group), and occasional Secretary and Tablelands Activities Coordinator.
In 1998, Graham’s dedication to Birds Australia saw him become national President of the governing board until 2001 – a time when two critical projects that helped define the then Birds Australia, HANZAB and Atlas 2, were in full swing and demanding unprecedented resources.
In 2014, Graham received a BirdLife Australia Distinguished Service Award (BDSA) because of his work as IBA/KBA coordinator. His work has led to critical information being collected about north Queensland species at a time of major environmental change while generating enthusiasm for, and promoting the value of, citizen science.
He developed methods for ongoing monitoring of Tooth-billed and Golden Bowerbirds, and coordinated initial surveys within the Wet Tropics KBAs.
He pioneered methods for assessing the status of threatened species through simple techniques that can readily be used by everyday members without scientific backgrounds. This has resulted in literally hundreds of volunteers being able to contribute to the scientific work of assessing population status of the grasswrens, bowerbirds, and cranes.
Due to Graham’s achievements and contributions to BirdLife Australia, he was awarded an Honorary Life Member of BirdLife Australia in 2022.
“Here’s just one example of Graham’s legacy:
He is largely responsible for why we still have Carpentarian Grasswrens left on the planet.
“He was part of a small group that was alarmed to see that this bird was disappearing from their only recently discovered range around Mount Isa (having already been lost from their traditional range in the Northern Territory the decade before). This small group identified that inappropriate burning was the cause. Graham led the charge to get adequate monitoring (led by BirdLife Northern Queensland volunteers) and to lobby for changes to land management.
“The first issue of the magazine I edited in 2009 had the Carpentarian Grasswren on the cover and outlined the work Graham and his colleagues were undertaking to save them. His science-based arguments worked and now land managers of all stripes including national parks, indigenous owners and even some pastoralists and mining companies have changed their burning patterns.
“15 years on, Carpentarian Grasswrens seem to be thriving.
“I know a lot of people worked to make this happen but without Graham at the heart of it, I doubt we would have got this outcome.”
Sean Dooley
National Public Affairs Manager at BirdLife Australia and a friend of Graham’s
All of Graham’s projects left an indelible mark on nature in Australia, inspiring for multiple and future generations of conservationists and citizen scientists.
All conservationists aspire to build a better world, Graham in his wisdom gave us the blueprint.
Memories of Graham, a very special friend
Keith and Lindsay Fisher
Keith and l first met Graham when we attended the Royal Australian Ornithological Union (RAOU) Congress which was held at the Genazzano Centre on the Atherton Tablelands in 1992. Keith and Graham soon became friends as they both came from London and were passionate about English football.
The RAOU North Queensland group was formed the following year, with Graham at the helm and both of us on the committee. As Townsville was part of the group in those days, there was plenty of travelling around to campouts and committee meetings, and we soon got to know Graham and Gill very well.
In 1998 Graham became President of what was by then Birds Australia, and we had great fun at our AGM that year presenting him with all sorts of things to help him with his new position, plus a cake with plenty of sparklers.
We enjoyed many camping trips with Graham especially the ones that took us to the outback which was one of his favourite places. Trips to Cape York, Alice Springs and Newhaven, and to Western Australia (WA) were particularly memorable. Of course, birdwatching was paramount on all these trips and we appreciated being with someone who was so observant and knowledgeable as was Graham.
There were a few events that could have spoilt our friendship, such as Graham reversing into our 4WD parked on his driveway on two occasions, and trying to drown himself and Keith in the Diamantina River. However, good humour prevailed and we even went on holiday with him and Gill to WA shortly after this last event and survived!
When Keith and l took over Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge in 2005, we were unable to keep involved in the Group apart from the infamous Australia Day campouts that we hosted, which helped us keep in touch with Graham and Gill and other group members.
Since retiring we have visited Graham and Gill often and enjoyed many delightful hours on their deck talking, drinking wine or coffee and watching the birds that they shared their home with.
We feel privileged to have had this friendship with Graham and Gill, and have been constantly surprised by their huge zest for life and achievements. For Graham to have survived his illness for so long shows his tenacity and stubbornness which helped him achieve so much in his life.
Graham Harrington’s legacy
Kath Shurcliff
One of Graham’s lasting legacies is his immense contribution to “citizen science” before we even knew it as such. He had the insights and vision to realise that we needed to do long-term monitoring to track what was happening to our special, endemic north Queensland birds. So he started or improved projects on grasswrens, cranes, bowerbirds and high altitude species in the Wet Tropics.
As a scientist, he helped develop robust, repeatable methods, and then ensured that all of us volunteers had the confidence to do these in the field. But most importantly, and indeed an achievement that stands out even to this day, he made sure we knew that all our hours of work in the field did make a difference – he told us what we were finding about the birds: where they were most likely to be found; if their numbers were increasing; were they having breeding success. And he would ensure we knew these results within a few weeks of returning from the field!
He was also successful in obtaining funding from mining companies, foundations, governments, and even crowd-sourcing. These funds helped to meet our volunteers’ travel costs and even shouted us a few cherished helicopter rides.
Graham relished the citizen part by calling upon his extensive network of friends and colleagues who respected him. This meant our projects always had an interesting array of participants – from ex-Commodores of yacht clubs to young, bright uni students, and every oddball in between. And he always had one requirement - we had to have FUN while we were doing all the work. He facilitated that by encouraging social camps in the evenings, and opening bottles of his favourite Grant Burge sparkling wine!
Graham established a set of values in these projects which has influenced all of us who are now doing these citizen science projects - clear objectives, robust methods, timely feedback of results, and fun with a great bunch of volunteers. We value and thank Graham for giving all of us that legacy.
In Memoriam: Dr Graham Harrington
Peter and Val Valentine
One of Graham’s enduring gifts to me is recognition that the colour and comfort of happy pants is ideal for any occasion. He was of course the master, but I am happy to be an apprentice. I am not alone!
I first met Graham Harrington about 30 years ago when he was a research scientist at CSIRO in Atherton and I was an academic at James Cook University in Townsville. Knowledge about our tropical environments, especially rainforests and savanna, was produced and shared at CSIRO Atherton and I visited often to try and gain a better understanding. Graham, as head of the centre, was a most welcoming and friendly person to such visitors.
Later he and I co-supervised a research student at JCU Townsville (Simon Arlidge) who studied the different approaches to fire management by graziers on the western boundary of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Graham was a very supportive supervisor as many students before and afterwards discovered.
Graham played a significant role in commencing a branch of the Royal Australian Ornithological Union (RAOU) in northern Queensland (as Birds Australia Northern Queensland), later to become BirdLife Australia through the merger with the Bird Observers Club of Australia (BOCA). Our bird conservation organisations and programs owe much to Graham’s initiatives and his exceptional mentoring of others to take on significant roles.
Elsewhere his contributions at the National level have been recognised and applauded, but Graham devoted much of his heart and energy to our northern Queensland region. Almost every activity of our BirdLife branch carries a big chunk of Graham’s ideas and contributions. In all of this Graham was a warm-hearted person with many supportive comments and suggestions both individually and within the BirdLife Committee. He was a man full of love for life and for nature, and he was easy to love. He will be greatly missed by so many of us.
His peaceful passing brings an end to a magnificent life: well-lived and with so many contributions to science, to arts (especially theatre), to education, to birds, and to the wider natural history community. I have enjoyed spending time with Graham on BirdLife committee matters, on bird surveys, at so many functions, and being entertained by him on the stage.
My sympathy to Gill and family for your loss, but how wonderful that Graham passed within the embrace of his much-loved family. Val and I both enjoyed hugs with Graham and Gill who were participating in one of his favourite activities just last month – a splendid presentation on mammals by mutual friend Martin Willis in the Malanda Pub, scene of so many festive and nature events that Graham loved.
Vale Graham ... you always soared.
A message of appreciation and support from Southern Gulf NRM
Southern Gulf NRM, Kayler Greenfield and Andrew Maclean are saddened by the passing of Dr Graham Harrington, a dedicated conservationist and ornithologist whose passion for birds, particularly the endangered Carpentarian Grasswren, left an indelible mark on our region.
Graham was a tireless advocate for the protection of our iconic Carpentarian Grasswren. He was instrumental in raising awareness of the species' plight, and driving conservation efforts that are still in place today.
Graham’s work also included mentoring young conservationists and ornithologists, sharing his knowledge, and inspiring a new generation of bird lovers. Photo courtesy of Lyndy Skea.
His enthusiasm and passion were contagious, and he was always willing to go the extra mile to protect the birds of Northern Queensland.
We extend our deepest condolences to Graham's wife, Gill, and their son, Rhidian. His loss will be felt by all who knew him, and his legacy will continue to inspire conservation efforts for years to come.
Lyndy Skea
Senior Environment Project Officer
Southern Gulf NRM, Mount Isa, Queensland
A message to Graham’s friends and BirdLife Northern Queensland
I just wanted to reach out to you all, as the people I had the most nearness to in BirdLife Northern Queensland (BLNQ), given the sad news of Graham's passing.
While I will never have the luxury of meeting him in his prime in the field, I vividly remember his presence in 2022 at the Conservation Workshop BLNQ ran. One of the things that felt particularly unfair about his physical deterioration was just how clearly brilliant his mind remained the whole time: his wisdom and simply worded yet deeply insightful clarity absolutely shone!
I know that for however long this has been coming, this must be a particularly sad time for you all as a Branch, given the giant Graham was for northern Australian birding in particular, and undoubtedly Australian and global birding for those who know just what a legacy he leaves. Given my own tears, I can only imagine what this must be like for those of you who were able to be a friend, and know him personally.
With my deepest and most sincere condolences, vale Graham, one who soared!
James Matcott
BirdLife Australia
Memories of Graham
In 2002 I went on a memorable trip across Australia and down the Canning Stock Route. We were often days without reaching any stores and made our own bread. Graham looks very pleased with his first loaf.
I’ll be making a donation in gratitude for many other camps and wonderful hospitality from Gill and Graham when I lived near or visited them In North Queensland.
In appreciation.
Jo Wieneke
A message of sympathy
Please convey my deepest sympathies to Graham’s family and friends on the occasion of his passing.
As a close friend of Graham’s brother, Colin, both at school and later at Aberystwyth University in Wales, I was introduced to this friendly cheerful positive man in 1961. I have not forgotten him!
My best wishes to you all at this sad time – but what fond memories!
Sincerely,
Guy Rundle
