Hello everyone, now that Linda has reached out into cyberspace to spread the message about the ELLENBROOK BUSHLAND GROUP its about time we all got excited about the amazing bushland surrounding Ellenbrook. We are lucky to live within the shadow of a city and still be able to see amazing wildlife at our doorstep. To hear birds sing and see native bushland that erupts into life every spring. To see trees that have been here for over 500 years and species of plants that have changed little from the time of the dinosaurs. This really is a special place.
To fully appreciate this wonderful resource you really need to get out and immerse yourself in it. Try stopping, crouching down and tune in to all your senses. The sites, sounds and smells of the bush are something to behold.
Stay tuned and prepare to be amazed as Linda guides you through all that is to know about the Ellenbrook bushland.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Why do we need the bush....?
I'm usually momentarily stumped* when someone asks me "Why do we need bushland?"
Um....let me see...
1. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, and by some strange quirk of nature, green plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. Coincidence? Or, perhaps, co-evolution of symbiotic lifeforms over millennia? (The carbon oxygen cycle is taught in schools, but maybe we need to remind some adults on a daily basis.)
2. Our suburbs are sterile heat islands designed predominantly on grid patterns based on squares and rectangles, and built to tender. Nature reserves are biodiverse refuges with endless variety of forms, colours and shapes, which have come into existence without employing human monetary concepts. Bushland and nature reserves, along with gardens and sympathetic landscaping, help "soften" the hard edge of our built environments.
Psychologists are only just starting to explore how much we rely on nature for our mental health (check out this 104-page literature review by Deakin University). Often the best thing we can do for our sanity is leave our artificial environment for a few minutes, walk into our "mother environment" and look at a leaf, a flower, a bird singing in a tree.
[Excuse me while I go outside for a few minutes before finishing this post!]
3. Bushland ecosystems are incredibly complex structures that provide undervalued "ecosystem services" such as native bees to pollinate our food crops, trees that transpire water vapour to become rain, and birds that do a better job at pest control than any insecticide (without the chemical side-effects). Not to mention all the nutrient recycling!
Ecosystem services are undervalued because most people take them for granted. Yet they are priceless. No-one has calculated the cost of designing technology to replace even one ecosystem service. We might be able to survive for a very short time without ecosystem services, but we can't live without them.
*Stumped, because the question I ask is "How could we possibly survive without bushland?"
("What have the Romans ever done for us?")
Um....let me see...
1. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, and by some strange quirk of nature, green plants take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. Coincidence? Or, perhaps, co-evolution of symbiotic lifeforms over millennia? (The carbon oxygen cycle is taught in schools, but maybe we need to remind some adults on a daily basis.)
2. Our suburbs are sterile heat islands designed predominantly on grid patterns based on squares and rectangles, and built to tender. Nature reserves are biodiverse refuges with endless variety of forms, colours and shapes, which have come into existence without employing human monetary concepts. Bushland and nature reserves, along with gardens and sympathetic landscaping, help "soften" the hard edge of our built environments.
Psychologists are only just starting to explore how much we rely on nature for our mental health (check out this 104-page literature review by Deakin University). Often the best thing we can do for our sanity is leave our artificial environment for a few minutes, walk into our "mother environment" and look at a leaf, a flower, a bird singing in a tree.
[Excuse me while I go outside for a few minutes before finishing this post!]
3. Bushland ecosystems are incredibly complex structures that provide undervalued "ecosystem services" such as native bees to pollinate our food crops, trees that transpire water vapour to become rain, and birds that do a better job at pest control than any insecticide (without the chemical side-effects). Not to mention all the nutrient recycling!
Ecosystem services are undervalued because most people take them for granted. Yet they are priceless. No-one has calculated the cost of designing technology to replace even one ecosystem service. We might be able to survive for a very short time without ecosystem services, but we can't live without them.
*Stumped, because the question I ask is "How could we possibly survive without bushland?"
("What have the Romans ever done for us?")
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Clean Up Australia Day
Fifteen people showed up on the morning of Sunday 1st March for Clean Up Australia Day. We started off as a big orderly group on the boardwalk in Moulton Wetland, but soon diffused into smaller and smaller groups wandering through the banksias.
It seemed like everyone was keen to grab a bag and start filling it with rubbish.
As you would probably guess, there were lots of PET drink bottles, glass, bottle tops, and takeaway food containers.
We also found household paint cans and computer hardware, and someone even dragged out an old mattress.
A flock of Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo, an endangered species, landed in the trees while we were cleaning up their habitat. This bird comes to Ellenbrook to feed on the banksia flowers and seeds.
After an hour or so of filling the rubbish bags, we headed back to The Grapevine for a delicious morning tea of fruit juice and muffins, and received our certificates of appreciation.
A big thankyou to everyone who participated - Many hands indeed make light work!
Here's what we collected ⇒
It may not look like much, but when you consider all the small items such as plastic lids, crisp packets and other tiny scraps, it was a brilliant effort.
Some of this rubbish will be recycled.
All photographs courtesy of Janelle from City of Swan.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Introducing the Ellenbrook Bushland Group
Our first formal meeting for the Ellenbrook Bushland Group was on 19 January 2009. A small group of us met to find out what our common interests were, what we should call ourselves, and what kinds of events or activities we would like to have. We decided that the Clean Up Australia Day campaign would be a good choice for a first event.
Janelle from City of Swan has been very helpful in giving us pointers - who to contact and how to go about organising various activities, as well as assistance with promotional material. (Thanks again, Janelle!)
It's exciting to see what's been accomplished by other "friends" groups, and imagine how these activities could be translated to Ellenbrook. We'd like the Ellenbrook Bushland Group to be more than just a bushcare group, though, as there are obvious opportunities to link in with other community groups for activities such as art, photography and community education.
Janelle from City of Swan has been very helpful in giving us pointers - who to contact and how to go about organising various activities, as well as assistance with promotional material. (Thanks again, Janelle!)
It's exciting to see what's been accomplished by other "friends" groups, and imagine how these activities could be translated to Ellenbrook. We'd like the Ellenbrook Bushland Group to be more than just a bushcare group, though, as there are obvious opportunities to link in with other community groups for activities such as art, photography and community education.
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