About us
Manning River Turtle Group
The Manning River Turtle Conservation Group is a group of committed and passionate individuals from the Manning Valley o the Mid North Coast of NSW, Australia, dedicated to helping protect the endangered Manning River helmeted turtle (we call it the Manning River turtle for short!).
The Manning River Turtle Group was formed in 2017 to raise awareness of the turtle in our community, with public events and education.
In 2018 we helped Aussie Ark to establish a captive breeding program as an insurance population, which was a response to risks of disease outbreaks as well as the devastating drought and fires of 2019. The Manning river turtle now has a small population of turtles safeguarded for the future, and a program to release hatchlings into the wild when conditions are favourable.
We also assist by our advocacy work and by bringing state and local government agencies together with researchers and local landholders. The key to the survival of the turtle is the management of threats and the protection of habitat, so community awareness and involvement is vital. We work at restoring the rivers and protecting them for the future with citizen science water watch programs and educating and assisting landholders. Helping researchers with surveys and analysis is also important, so we can really develop the best strategies, and measure the outcomes.
MRTG holds an annual Winter Solstice Lantern Walk through Wingham Brush Nature Reserve and the town’s central green as an awareness raising exercise. It has proven a very popular event in the last two years. In conjunction with the Lantern Walk, the group also holds an annual colouring in competition for young children and an art competition for high-school aged children for which cash prizes are offered. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we have not been able to hold the Lantern Walk for the past two years, but we hope to resume this in the future. In 2021 we are holding a Winter Solstice Beanie Competition as a substitute, and hope that this, too, will be continued into the future.
We want to encourage people to visit and appreciate nature, to be stewards. It is so valuable to learn about species such as the Manning River turtle and the environment in which they live… to learn about their plight. And then be advocates for their ongoing survival.
MRTCG is not-for-profit and is auspiced by Manning Valley Neighbourhood Services Inc.