Tag Archives: Bush Heritage Australia

Blues For The Bush

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Blues for the bush 1The Shire of Perenjori in mid-west Western Australia will join with Bush Heritage on October 4th to present the second annual Blues for the Bush celebration. This will combine an open day at Charles Darwin Reserve with a fabulous evening concert.

Bush Heritage is one of my favourite conservation organisations. In fact I dedicated my last book, Billabong Bend, to them. Established in 1991, they now have thirty-five conservation reserves protecting over one million hectares. Their vision is, by 2025, to protect more than seven million hectares of Australia’s high conservation value land, water and wildlife. What’s not to love?

Blues for the bush 3Blues for the Bush was conceived last year to celebrate the ten year anniversary of Bush Heritage purchasing the 68,000 hectare Charles Darwin Reserve. This purchase was made possible, in part, by a generous donation from the great-great-grandson of the famous naturalist after whom the property is now named. Formerly known as White Wells Station, the reserve is located at the junction of major landforms, ecosystems and climates known as the Mulga‑Eucalypt line, where  desert meets the south‑west. As a result, it’s a melting pot of plant species with eucalypts and mulga scrub intermixed.

Blues for the bush 2Ancient woodlands of York gum, salmon, gimlet and pine are interspersed with wildflower-studded sand plains. Of course spring is the perfect time to see this colourful display. Dense thickets of wattle, casuarina and melaleuca shrub surround natural salt lake systems. Bush Heritage has destocked the property and controlled weeds and feral animals. The reserve is fast returning to its original, natural beauty.

It is in these stunning surrounds that Blues for the Bush happens. The Open Day is free from 10am – 4.00pm. There will be something for everyone to enjoy. Children’s entertainment with painting, art and stories. Guided ecology tours of the property will run throughout the day. Bush poetry. Song-writing and bush music workshops, slow food demonstrations and much, much more. There will even be a free Bush Tea, the local’s answer to the traditional high tea – lamingtons, Anzac biscuits and a fresh brewed cuppa.

Hat Fitz at last year's Blues for the Bush

Hat Fitz at last year’s Blues for the Bush

The highlight will be a blues concert. Local Ngoongar musician, Craig Pickett, will open this year’s event. Craig is an incredible guitarist and has played for many years around Western Australia. Following Craig will be some of the absolute best in independent Australian blues and roots music, including Hat Fitz, Cara Robinson and Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk. Tickets on sale here. They include a spit roast and salad meal. There will also be a cash bar and camping facilities available. What a night it will be!

On a personal writing note, I am rushing to get Turtle Reef ready for submission to Penguin on the first of October. Won’t see the manuscript again until the first round of edits roll around. I’m getting my mares, Sheba and Star, shod on the second of October. My reward for finishing. Bunyip State Forest, here we come!

BB14

 

Bush Heritage Australia

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Bush Heritage 2Since I dedicated my last book Billabong Bend to Bush Heritage, I thought I should write a post about it. Bush Heritage is a non-profit conservation organisation dedicated to protecting Australia’s unique animals, plants and their habitats for future generations. They have a simple and practical formula for protecting the bush – buy land of outstanding conservation value, then care for it

Liffey Valley Reserves in Tasmania – the first Bush Heritage Reserve. Photo: Wayne Lawler

Liffey Valley in Tasmania – the first Bush Heritage Reserve. Photo: Wayne Lawler

The organisation began in 1991, when Dr Bob Brown bought several hundred hectares of old-growth forest in Tasmania to save it from logging. Using prize money from an environmental award as the deposit, he sought donations to gather the remaining funds, and Bush Heritage was born.

My fictional property of Billabong Bend is based in part on the beautiful Naree Station, acquired by Bush Heritage in 2012. Located on the inland floodplains of northern NSW, Naree sits at the head of the nationally significant wetlands of the Cuttaburra Channels and Yantabulla Swamp. During flood events it becomes home to an incredible fifty thousand breeding water birds and is rated as one of the twenty most important water bird sites in Australia.

Bush Heritage 4Bush Heritage currently owns and manages thirty-five reserves throughout Australia, covering nearly one million hectares. Reserves are managed like national parks – the land is legally protected, with the intention of safeguarding it forever. Bush Heritage also builds partnerships with farmers. These partnerships account for a further 3.5 million hectares of land under conservation management. Their long term goal is to protect more than seven million hectares by 2025. This will only be possible with our help.

Bush Heritage 2If you need a gift for someone who cares about the environment, how about sending a Bush Heritage WILDgift? Not only does your friend or family member receive a beautiful card featuring stunning photography from the Australian bush, but together, you also make a real and lasting contribution to nature conservation in Australia. For ten dollars you can provide a warm, safe nesting box for the endangered red-tailed phascogale. For twenty-five dollars you can save a slice of the outback, helping to buy one hectare of native habitat. Every hectare makes a difference!

BB14

 

 

My Three Wishes – 3 Wishes Blog Blitz

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3 wishes blog blitzToday I’m participating in the Three Wishes Blog Blitz, hosted by author Juliet Madison. From 2nd to 6th September you’ll have the chance to win some terrific prizes at all the blogs participating in the blitz, including mine. For a chance to win a signed copy of Currawong Creek, just tell me a wish of your own. Then click over to Juliet’s blog to enter her prize draw, see the list of other blogs taking part and enter their giveaways too. How good is that? And why is it called the Three Wishes Blog Blitz? Juliet’s new romantic comedy release, I Dream of Johnny, is about three wishes, a high-tech genie in a lamp, and one very unfortunate typo that proves magic isn’t all it’s cracked up to be…

orphan joeysTo fulfil my obligation to the blitz, I’m writing about what I’d want if a genie gave me three wishes. First I’d like to be financially independent enough to turn my boutique dog boarding kennel into a wildlife rehabilitation centre. Much as I adore my canine guests, I often fantasise that the lovely runs and sheds are full of recovering wallabies, wombats and possums instead. I’d love to do the wildlife rehabilitation course and dedicate myself to native animals. There’s nobody in the world that I admire more than our wonderful wildlife carers.

Bicentennial National TrailSecond wish – I’d like to ride the length of the Bicentennial National Trail from north to south.  The trail stretches an extraordinary 5,330 kilometres from Cooktown in tropical far north Queensland to Healesville in Victoria. As it winds along the eastern seaboard, following the foothills of the Great Dividing Range and the Eastern Escarpment, it travels through some of Australia’s most remote and spectacular scenery. My son has offered to ride it with me if I can ever organise myself. Would love to hear from anybody out there who has already done it.

honey possumThirdly (and this is a magic genie granting wishes right, so there are no limits) I’d like to buy up large tracts of rare habitat a la Bush Heritage. Wetlands, rain forest and temperate woodlands – the most threatened wooded ecosystem type in Australia. The problem is particularly severe in my home state of Victoria, which has lost 83 per cent of its woodland ecosystems to land  clearance. Combined with drier weather patterns, that loss has led to a dramatic  decline in woodland fauna, with recent research suggesting that  even common birds such as the red wattlebird, spotted pardalote and  rufous whistler are in trouble. I’d love to fence these areas, eliminate foxes and cats, and help restore habitats. What a thrill that would be!

You’ve seen my top wishes. To enter the prize draw, just comment telling me a wish of your own. NZ and Aust only. Competition closes 12pm Friday 6th September. Once you’ve entered my giveaway, visit Juliet’s blog at http://julietmadison.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/3-wishes-blog-blitz-official-post/ & enter her giveaway too, and visit any or all of the other participating blogs to enter more prize draws. You could potentially win a whole heap of prizes! Good luck!

BB2013_Nominee

Australia Day Book Giveaway Blog Hop!

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australiadaybloghopTHE ORIGINAL AUSTRALIANS

Welcome to this Australia Day book giveaway blog hop. It’s the brainchild of Shelleyrae and Confessions from Romaholics. The aim is to connect aussie authors and readers. My post today is about the original Australians. I’m not talking about our indigenous people, who share a proud history with this continent dating back at least 50,000 years. No, I’m talking about the flora and fauna that evolved along with our land over millions of years.

Tasmanian TigersIn Australia we have an exceptionally high number of unique species, yet we also have the highest extinction rate in the world. 126 species of plants and animals have vanished in just 200 years. Another 182 species are classified as endangered, and 201 more are threatened. Many are locally extinct, only surviving precariously on offshore islands or in captivity.

Brush tailed BettongThankfully we have moved beyond the worst cruelties of the past. For example, in the early twentieth century, live Brush-tailed Bettongs were sold for ninepence a dozen to be chased and torn apart by greyhounds. Today’s flora and fauna face more modern threats. Habitat loss and feral animals, such as cats, foxes and cane toads, are contributing to a second wave of extinctions.

We all have a part to play in protecting our precious native plants and animals. Why not celebrate our national day by doing something to help these original Australians?

  • BilbyGrow native plants. They provide wildlife with food and shelter.
  • Keep your cat inside, at least at night. Most marsupials are nocturnal and birds are at their most vulnerable at night.
  • De-sex your cats and dogs.
  • Put in a birdbath.
  • Avoid using pesticides in the house and garden. Most are toxic to reptiles and insect eaters.
  • Look out for native animals when driving.
  • tasmanian devilInstall nest boxes in trees for hollow-dwellers.
  • If fishing, do not leave fish hooks, line, sinkers, plastic bags or any other litter behind.
  • Join as a volunteer or member of a wildlife or conservation group.
  • Donate to groups like Bush Heritage Australia and the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.

I’m giving away two signed books – one copy of Brumby’s Run and one copy of Wasp Season. Just comment on this post, naming an extinct or endangered Australian plant or animal. Entries close at midnight on January 28th. Winners announced Sunday Feb 3rd. Giveaway for Australian residents only.

Click these links back to Book’d Out and Confessions from Romaholics to visit other participants in the Blog Hop and Book Giveaway. A peaceful and happy Australia Day to everybody!

BB2013_Nominee

Bush Heritage Australia

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Bush Heritage 1With Christmas fast approaching, I have a present suggestion. Why not a WILD gift from Bush Heritage Australia, an organisation committed to protecting Australia’s plants and animals and their habitats? One of the best ways to conserve land is to own it. Bush Heritage acquires land and water of outstanding ecological importance for Australia’s biodiversity and ecology. They also build partnerships with farmers to support conservation on privately owned land. Starting out with just two reserves in 1991, Bush Heritage now owns and manages more than a million hectares, in over 30 reserves around Australia.

Bush Heritage 2The WILD Gift concept is very cool, and makes a real difference to conservation in Australia. Each gift represents an area of Bush Heritage’s work on reserves right across the country. For ten dollars you can provide a warm, safe nesting box for endangered red-tailed phascogales. Forty dollars can help monitor the health of a threatened species, like the small but feisty Mulgara. My personal favourite is their Slice of the Outback gift. Twenty-five dollars can buy one hectare of native habitat, providing a safe haven for countless plants and animals. Every hectare makes a difference!

Brolga on Naree Station

Brolga on Naree Station

For each gift purchased, you’ll receive a beautiful gift card which you can send to a friend or relative, letting them know about the thoughtful contribution you’ve made on their behalf, and about the conservation successes they’re helping to achieve – plus you can add your own personal message. If you choose an electronic card, you have the further choice of opting that it be sent direct to the recipient on your behalf. As a giver, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you’re part of Bush Heritage’s big plans to rescue Australian wildlife and landscapes. All WILD gifts are tax deductible.

 

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