September 2, 2026
On Wednesday, 2 September 2026, an audience of approximately 40 people who attended the 1344th Ordinary General Meeting of the Royal Society of NSW heard a masterful presentation, titled ‘Ecosystem restoration at scale, reintroducing native species and managing threats – nearly a decade of the Wild Deserts project‘, delivered by Scientia Professor Richard Kingsford AO FRSN, Director, Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW Sydney,
Scientia Professor Richard Kingsford’s presentation described the Wild Deserts project, a large-scale conservation and ecosystem restoration initiative in Sturt National Park, north-western New South Wales. Against the backdrop of severe global biodiversity decline, he highlighted Australia’s exceptional record of mammal extinctions since European colonisation, driven largely by feral cats, foxes, rabbits and overgrazing.
The project, led by UNSW in partnership with NSW National Parks and others, manages about 40,000 hectares of national park. Its core work has been building predator-free exclosures, removing feral animals, and reintroducing locally extinct mammals including bilbies, bandicoots, bettongs, mulgaras and quolls. Most reintroductions have exceeded success thresholds, with populations breeding and recruiting, although stick-nest rats failed to establish.
Kingsford stressed that safe havens alone were not enough. Some animals become predator-naïve or overpopulate without functioning food webs. The team therefore created a 100-square-kilometre “wild training zone”, where low numbers of cats were deliberately managed to create selection pressure, helping reintroduced animals become more predator-aware while preventing extinction.
The presentation also covered innovations in feral cat control, including Felix grooming traps, shooting, baiting, satellite tracking, detection dogs and possible protection implants. Kangaroo management is another major challenge, addressed through one-way gates that reduce grazing pressure.
A major theme of his talk was evidence-based conservation. The team uses camera traps, drones, satellite imagery, machine learning, soil studies and ecological monitoring to measure ecosystem change. Professor Kingsford argued that effective restoration must combine science, management, partnerships, public education, First Nations engagement and transparent monitoring.
A video recording of the presentation and Q&A session is now available on the Society’s YouTube channel, while a collection of images from the occasion will be available shortly for viewing and downloading.
