Alison Russell-French

Ms Alison Russell-French, President of Birds Australia.

"Alison is a former Australian Public Servant. Her career spanned natural resource management areas of the Australian Public Service across many areas of the Department of Environment, Heritage and the Arts.  She has wide experience in policy and program management and administration across a range of national and international programs including the Coasts and Clean Seas Program, Coastcare, National Reserve Systems, the National Wetlands Program, national and international migratory waterbird conservation, national and World Heritage policy and management.  Before her retirement, Alison was a senior member of the Australian Government’s NRM Team managing delivery of the NHT and National Salinity Program funding.  She has substantial international representation experience including leading Australian delegations at meetings of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the APEC Marine Resources Working Group, Wetlands International, and the Bilateral Migratory Bird Agreements with Japan and China. She also has considerable experience across a range of Indigenous related programs and was the Australian Government member on Landcare Australia, the Board of Members of Wetlands International, and Chair of the Wetlands International – Asia Pacific Council. Alison took a leading role in the development and acceptance in the Asia Pacific region of the Asia Pacific Migratory Waterbird Conservation Strategy: 2001 - 2005 and the East Asia-Australasian Flyway which aims to protect the habitat and vital staging sites for migratory birds. Alison is currently engaged in selected consultancy work. She is a keen bird watcher with a lifetime interest in conservation of Australia’s birds, and has served on Council since 1999."