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Cover of Bushtracks Spring 2024

A Traditional Custodian once told me that ‘if you put your ear to a River Red Gum trunk, you can hear it drinking’.” 

My colleague Lisa shared this knowledge with a travelling group of our staff and Board members on Evelyn Downs Reserve, Yankunytjatjara and Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara Country. It sparked our curiosity, being in such arid, dry Country. So together, we wrapped our arms around the majestic trees, the bark that encased the bright-red heartwood, and we listened. 

Sure enough, we heard water being siphoned up. The trees were thirsty, and the drying riverbed sustained them. We found ourselves in awe and humbled by their existence, which provides oxygen and shelter to life around them. 

To sum up the value of trees in a few words is not easy, so we’ve dedicated this entire edition of Bushtracks to them. 

In ‘Nature’s clock’, we learn about lesser-known Tasmanian species and of two native nursery owners who are striving to repopulate the plants before they're wiped out. The story reminds me that we can’t protect what we don’t know about, and the value of knowledge in keeping our ecosystems healthy and alive. 

Traditional Custodians have known this for millennia and have carried information across Country through a sophisticated knowledge system. In ‘Knowledge vault’, Danika Davis looks at how a new platform seeks to safely store cultural data in a digital world. 

In ‘Growing together’, our long-term volunteers monitor York Gums at Charles Darwin Reserve, which proves a rewarding challenge given the trees’ lifespans far outnumber ours. Many York Gums live for more than 250 years. In their lifetimes, roughly half of Australia’s forests and bushlands have been cleared since colonisation. A reminder of the importance of our vision – healthy Country, protected forever – and that we're now in time where every hectare counts. 

If I ever feel like the odds are against the survival of our forests, I think back to the River Red Gum’s remarkable resilience. Theirs is a story of how trees can continue to stand tall in unlikely settings. And that with the trees, comes the raucous chorus of birds, the slither of reptiles, the hollows for mammals, and countless stories of awe and joy for us to share.

CEO Rachel Lowry

Rachel Lowry signature.

Rachel Lowry, Chief Executive Officer.

Bushtracks 2024 Spring 7 MB