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In the Wild with Harry Butler – Scars on the Landscape (1976)

Synopsis

Naturalist Harry Butler is in northern Queensland, where millennia of fire stick farming by Indigenous Australians has created the grasslands of that region.

Curator’s notes

Harry Butler is a natural television performer and extremely knowledgeable about Australian flora and fauna. This adds up to a thoroughly enjoyable television half-hour. The first series in 1976 was so successful that the program continued for several years, with audience ratings that built on the original series bringing recognition to the ABC and the naturalist.

When Harry Butler left television, he worked for a number of years assisting mining companies to lessen their environmental footprint. He’s proud of his record of working with the big mining companies to reduce their environmental impact and, despite being criticised for accepting the mining dollar, insists that we need to work with them for the future of Australia.