The Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists (in short, the Wentworth Group) is a group of Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n scientist

Scientist

A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

s concerned with the environment

Environment (biophysical)

The biophysical environment is the combined modeling of the physical environment and the biological life forms within the environment, and includes all variables, parameters as well as conditions and modes inside the Earth's biosphere. The biophysical environment can be divided into two categories:...

, that in November 2002 released a statement, Blueprint for a Living Continent. This calls for significant
environmental reform to alleviate the mis-use of Australia's resources, significantly its water.

The name of the group comes from the venue of their principal meetings prior to release of the blueprint. The group is a well connected lobby group, and have used their political position to facilitate restrictions on land clearing in NSW.

Programme

The Wentworth Group proposes five key changes that the Federal

Government of Australia

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...

 and State governments can implement immediately:

• Clarify water property rights and the obligations associated with those rights to give farmers some certainty and to enable water to be recovered for the environment;
• Restore environmental flows to stressed rivers, such as the River Murray and its tributaries;
• Immediately end broadscale land clearing of remnant native vegetation and assist rural communities with adjustment.
• Pay farmers for environmental services (clean water, fresh air, healthy soils). Where we expect farmers to maintain land in a certain way that is above their duty of care, we should pay them to provide those services on behalf of the rest of Australia; and
• Incorporate into the cost of food, fibre and water the hidden subsidies currently borne by the environment.

The blueprint was widely publicised in the media and was considered by the highest levels of government.

Members

The Wentworth Group consists of:

• Prof Peter Cullen
  Peter Cullen (scientist)
  Professor Peter Cullen AO FTSE, MAgrSc, DipEd , Hon DUniv , was a leading Australian water scientist.-Education:...
  
   - Commissioner, National Water Commission
  National Water Commission
  The National Water Commission is an independent statutory body within the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities that was established under the National Water Commission Act 2004 to implement the National Water Initiative and reform the broader national water...
  
  ; Former Director, Co-operative Research Centre for Freshwater Ecology, University of Canberra
  University of Canberra
  Over the years the Stone Day program has gradually become larger and larger, taking up a whole week and now Stonefest is one of Australia's most popular music festivals. The first foundation celebrations were held in 1971. In 1973 Stone Day celebrations were held over two days, which was expanded...
  
  , died 2008-03-14
• Prof Tim Flannery
  Tim Flannery
  Timothy Fridtjof Flannery is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist and global warming activist....
  
   - 2007 Australian of the Year; Zoologist and author (The Future Eaters) (The Weather Makers
  The Weather Makers
  The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change is a book by Tim Flannery.The book received critical acclaim. It won the major prize at the 2006 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, and was short-listed for the 2010 Jan Michalski Prize for Literature.-Description:The book...
  
  )
• Assoc Prof Ronnie Harding - Chair, NSW Council on Environmental Education; Former Director, Institute of Environmental Studies, University of New South Wales
  University of New South Wales
  The University of New South Wales , is a research-focused university based in Kensington, a suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
  
  
• Prof Hugh Possingham
  Hugh Possingham
  Hugh Phillip Possingham, FAA , is an ARC Federation Fellow in the Department of Mathematics, and the School of Integrative Biology at the University of Queensland...
  
   - Director, The Ecology Centre, University of Queensland
  University of Queensland
  The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
  
  
• Rob Purves - Chair, Environment Business Australia; Chair, Purves Environmental Fund
• Dr Denis Saunders - President of WWF Australia; Former CSIRO Chief research scientist
• Prof Bruce Thom
  Bruce Thom
  Bruce Thom is a member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney in Australia and President of the Australian Coastal Society. He is also former Vice Chancellor of the University of New England and former Chair of the Australian State of the...
  
   - Emeritus Professor, University of Sydney
  University of Sydney
  The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
  
   - Former Chair Australian State of the Environment Committee and the NSW Coastal Council
• Dr John Williams
  John Williams (water scientist)
  John Williams is an Australian scientist whose life work has been in the study of hydrology and the use of water in the landscape and farming, including land salinity....
  
   - Commissioner, NSW Natural Resources Commission, Former Chief of CSIRO Land and Water
• Prof Mike Young - Professor of Water Economics & Management, Adelaide University; Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Land and Water
• Peter Cosier - Director and Member of the Wentworth Group.

External links

• Wentworth Group
• Purves Environmental Fund
• Blueprint for a Living Continent - a report from the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists November 2002 (PDF, 135 kB)
• Blueprint for a National Water Plan - a report from the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists 31 July 2003 (PDF, 1.2 MB)
• A New Model for Landscape Conservation in New South Wales - Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists Report to Premier Bob Carr February 2003 (PDF, 56 kB)