By Ken Dorey. Our coastal towns and villages are lined with stately Norfolk Island Pines. Their uniform size might be indicative of an organised tree planting program and, if so, why were our local Hoop Pines overlooked for the job? It’s not that you could begrudge the Norfolk Island Pines. They are tolerant of salt,...
Author: Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy
Rekindle Foundation pledge multi-year support to the Big Scrub
Over the past 30 years, Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy has cared for around 50 Big Scrub rainforest remnants and facilitated the restoration of new forest on over 600 hectares of land. We’ve done so with the help of government funding, the Big Scrub Foundation, other philanthropic organisations and generous individual donors. It’s with great pleasure...
Koalas in the Big Scrub: A Conservation Dilemma
The Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy, landowners, land managers and regenerators have been working hard for 40 years to protect, regenerate and replant the vegetation that once flourished on the red ferrosol soils of the Big Scrub. That vegetation type is lowland subtropical rainforest – a complex and diverse ecosystem that evolved 40 million years ago...
Science in the Pub: Tim Low and Mark Dunphy entertain birdos at the Eltham
The long awaited – two years in the making – Science in the Pub with Tim Low finally took place last week at the Eltham Hotel. After being delayed by Covid and the floods, Lismore City Council, Richmond Landcare Inc and the other presenting partners staged the event in front of over 100 attendees, who...
Shy, cute but with an iron stomach: Can you guess this Big Scrub favourite?
By James Hagan As the sun rises to strike the giant trunks of the rainforest, dawn light begins to cascade over the meadows of herbs and grasses and it is time to retreat once again deep into the protection of the shadows for yet another day. As they softly pad between walls of buttress roots...
Alex Floyd Tribute: “Unsurpassed knowledge” of rainforest botany
One of the pioneers of rainforest botany, and a formative personality of conservation in our region, Alex Floyd, passed away earlier this year. In an insightful and touching obituary published in the Sydney Morning Herald, Dr Rob Kooyman shared many of the amazing facts from Floyd’s life and career. Kooyman describes Floyd’s knowledge of rainforest botany...
Science Saving Rainforests Update: DNA Sequencing Underway
After suffering bushfire, flood and covid-related delays, our flagship program Science Saving Rainforests has sprung into action and is quickly making up for lost time. Most excitingly, the DNA sequencing phase of the program has begun, with a number of species currently being analysed by Diversity Arrays Technology in Canberra. This stage of the project...
Propagation, Regeneration, Celebration: New festival to celebrate regeneration of the region
By Ray Moynihan Some books change your life. Australian Rainforest Seeds and its guidance on propagation changed mine. This time 12 months ago I was an overpaid academic on the path to full professor. A year later I’m organising seed propagation workshops in schools and a new festival called Regeneration – to be held in...
Annual President’s Report 2022: Record year for Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy
Tony Parkes’ 2021-22 Annual President’s Report to the members of Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy After 29 years as Big Scrub Landcare, members agreed that we should change our name to Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy (BSRC). The new name better reflects the much broader scope of our activities, particularly Science Saving Rainforests, our flagship Program. I...