Nursery up for award
THE staff helping cultivate native flora at the Girringun Native Plant Nursery are thrilled to have their conservation work recognised in the upcoming Cassowary Awards.
Girringun Native Plant Nursery has been nominated for the Thorsborne Award for Community Conservation and Rehabilitation, named after late conservationist Margaret Thorsborne, who lived in the Cassowary Coast region.
Over the past eight years, the Girringun Native Plant Nursery, based out of the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation building on 235 Victoria St, Cardwell, has used traditional knowledge to collect and grow native plants to revegetate the traditional country of the nine tribes within the Girringun Aboriginal Corporation area.
Nursery supervisor Daniel Beeron said he was proud to do his part in preserving native vegetation.
“These aren’t just trees – they have a higher purpose and to us they contain our cultural values and our history,” he said.
“We mainly specialise in growing local endemic species and educating people on them, but people can also come in and just buy plants for their garden.”
Despite ongoing challenges to fund the nursery, it manages to thrive and supply plants to revegetation projects, landscapers, nurseries and the general public, with all sales benefiting the protection and restoration of Indigenous Protected Areas.
Mr Beeron said he hoped the award nomination would lead to more recognition and investment in the project from outside organisations.
“It’s quite surprising that we did get nominated – I think it was something we really needed to lift our spirits,” he said.
“It’s been difficult for us since funding dried up in 2017.
“You’re just kind of struggling, doing your part to keep it going because not a lot of people want to buy these plants.”
Mr Beeron works two paid days and half a volunteer day per week with fellow nursery workers Sandra Leo and Aunty Jean Thaiday.
“We do a lot of maintenance, a lot of seed-planting, collection,” he said.
“There’s a lot of irrigation and maintenance to keep an eye on, both at the main site and our production site on the Tullamore block.
“We’re also involved with the Deadly Bushfoods project at Tully State High School, doing education work.”
Girringun will vie for the Thorsborne Award with eleven other nominees from around the Far North. The recipient will be announced at the Wet Tropics Management Authority’s Cassowary Awards at Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park on June 15.