Olivia Barratt

Inherits the bush we leave behind

Olivia Barratt admires some grass trees. Photo by Kim Thomsens Photography.
When Olivia Barratt was just a baby, her grandmother recognised in her a love of nature.

“She’s going to be a botanist, or an ornithologist.”

As Olivia grew older, the bush became an important part of her life. Regular family camping trips were an opportunity to explore rock pools and waterfalls.

“I love finding little animals we’ve never seen before,” Olivia says. She wants to be like David Attenborough when she gets older.

Now at age ten years old, Olivia is a staunch advocate of the Night Parrot and is spreading the word among her classmates about why it must be protected.
Olivia Barratt on bushland near her home in Queensland's Fraser Coast. Photo by Kim Thomsens Photography.
Her parents even drove an hour with Olivia to collect red dirt in order to show her classmates the kind of habitat the Night Parrot inhabits.

“We thought the Night Parrot was extinct, but now we have a second chance to help save them. I want to help them.”

“If there was no bush, we wouldn’t learn a lot of things from plants and animals. When I’m older, in 25 years, I would like the bush to be nice and healthy, so the Night Parrot could be everywhere and other endangered animals too.”

It is Olivia and her friends that inherit the bush we as Australians leave behind us.