How a 'most beautiful plant' helped turn the conservationist tide

For Alec Costin, the discovery of a field of anemone buttercups in alpine grasslands near Mount Kosciuszko marked a turning point in that region's conservation.

Alec Costin, a retired alpine ecologist, with a painting in
 his house of "the most beautiful flower" - the anemone
 buttercup - that helped turn the conservation tide in the
 Kosciuszko National Park.

Six decades ago - when the environmental fate of the region was last up for grabs - Dr Costin helped get sheep removed from what was then the Kosciusko State Park.

Taking Sir Garfield Barwick - a prominent lawyer and park trustee who favoured extending leases graziers had enjoyed above 1300 metres since the 1920s - on a three-day mountain tour proved Dr Costin's master stroke.

Even today, the buttercup remains vulnerable, found only in a 32- by eight-kilometre strip near Guthega. But, back then, its future was precarious as it was a favoured sheep fodder.

Read Peter Hannam’s story from The Age - “How a 'most beautiful plant' helped turn the conservationist tide.”