Did you know that willows can spread 100’s of kilometres just from a broken twig?  Willows are an introduced pest, and they are making life very difficult for our native fish.

Dubbo’s willow eradication program will be a focus of Native Fish Awareness Week. Come and see what has been done in and around Dubbo!

There will be three native fish activities in Dubbo on Tuesday 20 May:

• ‘The Macquarie Meander’ is from 3pm - 4:30pm. This is a free open community event showing how the new plantings of native trees and shrubs are benefiting native fish in the region. Afternoon tea is provided.
• The Native Fish Strategy coordinators and community advisors will be visiting schools in and around Dubbo to talk with children about native fish conservation.
• ‘Macquarie River Magic’ is an open community forum in the Starlite Rooms at the Dubbo RSL Club Resort, Brisbane Street, from 7pm - 8:30pm.

"This open community forum is a great opportunity to learn about and have your say about native fish in your local area, and to talk about how best to help them," Adrian Wells, Chair of the Community Stakeholder Taskforce of the Murray-Darling Basin Commission’s (MDBC’s) Native Fish Strategy.

"The forum will include information on the current state of native fish in the Macquarie and the Murray-Darling Basin, a native fish trivia quiz with great prizes up for grabs, and time for questions." said Janet Pritchard, southern NSW coordinator of the Strategy.

The forum will finish with light refreshments, and a chance to chat with members of the team travelling throughout inland NSW as part of Native Fish Awareness Week, an initiative of the MDBC’s Native Fish Strategy.

The Dubbo activities are part of a week of native fish events to be held in inland NSW. For a full list of dates and locations of events, or more information on the Native Fish Strategy, visit the MDBC website www.mdbc.gov.au/NFS/, or contact Sam Leone MDBC Media Liaison on 0407 006 332.

To arrange an interview with the Native Fish Awareness Week participants, or for more information on the specific events, phone:

Media contact: for Native Fish Awareness Week Caitlin Howlett 0407 492 456