Articles about Damien
- Swamp success something special, The Local
- Conservation Actions For Australasian Bittern in North Central Victoria
- Regeneration of indigenous vegetation at Third Reedy Lake as it has dried over summer and autumn 2022
- Biological and cultural restoration at McDonald’s Swamp in northern Victoria, Australia
Damien Cook
Restoration Ecologist/Director
Damien lives in central Victoria but most of his current restoration work is focused in the semi-arid zone in north western Victoria.
Expertise:
- Wetland restoration
- Grassland and woodland restoration
- Ecological monitoring (mostly birds, frogs and vegetation)
Damien Cook is the Director and Senior Restoration Ecologist at the Wetland Revival Trust. Damien has been a keen naturalist for 35 years and has developed a sound knowledge of flora and fauna ecology, identification, and habitat requirements. He is a recognised expert in wetland, riparian and terrestrial ecology, particularly in the factors affecting the establishment and management of aquatic and wetland plants, and the revegetation of terrestrial grassland and woodland ecosystems.
Damien has been instrumental in planning and delivering some of the largest and most complex ecological restoration projects to date in Victoria including the 40-hectare Waterways Estate in Braeside, Southeast Melbourne for which Damien received a Restoration Excellence Award from the Society for Ecological Restoration Australasia (SERA) in November 2016. Damien also helped plan and implement the restoration of 200 hectares of coastal park at the Victorian Desalination Plant, Wonthaggi. He currently works with Traditional Owner groups restoring wetlands, grasslands, and woodlands in and around the Kerang Wetlands and Gunbower Island Ramsar sites in northern Victoria. His current main interests are developing techniques to restore species-rich, macrophyte-dominated clear water wetlands from those that have become turbid and algae-dominated and restoring the tree canopy and carbon storage capacity in wetlands where this has been degraded by past poor water management practices.
Damien conducts training sessions and lectures on ecology and related subjects for universities, industry, and community groups. Damien has been on numerous scientific advisory groups including ‘Growling Grass Frog Technical Advisory Group’ and ‘Western Grassland Reserve Technical Advisory Group’. Outside of Australia Damien has worked on ecological restoration projects in Inner Mongolia and Timor Leste.