Award for Mary River dam fight | Gympie News | Local News in Gympie

THE people of the Mary Valley and its downstream region have been recognised as international conservation heroes and victims of "draconian" government policies.

In Spain yesterday, an excited Glenda Pickersgill told The Gympie Times the campaign to save the Mary River from destruction as a result of the proposed Traveston Crossing dam had been "taken to heart" by non-government conservation and humanitarian groups in Europe, the Americas and Asia.

"This is the first time grassroots groups from Australia have joined their overseas counterparts in this way," she said.

Ms Pickersgill and Wayne Cameron from Brisbane's Bulimba Creek Committee are at the World Expo Zaragoza in Spain, where they presented a case study on the proposed Traveston Crossing dam, including an emotional plea by Ms Pickersgill for international support.

The theme of the Zaragoza Expo is water and sustainable development and it features pavilion displays from 140 countries, with attendances of up to 40,000 on busy days.

Our display is in the Citizen's Initiatives pavilion, along with exhibits and case studies from 60 community organisations affected by water policy and big dams, Ms Pickersgill said.

Mr Cameron, who produced the Mary River multimedia display for Zaragoza, said the citizens' displays had shown "many horror stories of people callously cast aside by authorities with power and money, pursuing one eyed agendas."

And among all that competition, Ms Pickersgill said Australia was included as one of eight selected case studies to be awarded recognition for their efforts.

She accepted, on behalf of Mary Valley activists, the world activist award, The Green Dragon, modelled on the symbol on fellow activists' boats when they successfully turned around major Spanish Government plans to dam the country's longest river and transfer massive quantities of water from one region to another, as with Traveston Crossing.

"The people of the Mary River catchment have already suffered unjustly by this dam proposal," she said. "The Australian Government has (generally) good water policies, but the eyes of the world will be focused on the decision (Federal Environment Minister) Peter Garrett must make in the next few months.

"In a time of climate change and diminishing rainfall in South East Queensland, building this dam would come at great cost to all South East Queenslanders," she said.