PEOPLE POWER

The restoration of the nature reserve adjoining Richard’s property is testament to ‘build it and they will come’ or, in this case, ‘rebuild it and they will return’. Slow and steady wins this process. A patient, consistent approach has delivered real success for this wonderful group.

How long has it taken to restore this patch of land, you ask? Twenty years. You might think that’s a long time, but 20 years of repair time out of 240 years of disturbance to this valuable land is actually a small investment.

Incredibly, this has been achieved by a group of people – between six and

15 of them – turning up and doing two hours of volunteering once a month on a Sunday. Just two hours a month! And they have brought the bushland and its food chain ecology back to life.

When the volunteers told me this, we all actually shed a tear. Why?

Because we can all make a difference. People all over the country are making a difference, not only to plant life, but also to wildlife and their own lives, courtesy of the horticultural therapy of being in the bush. This story is real. The results are there to be seen and the principles can be applied to any piece of bushland, anywhere in the country.

And you never know which part of the story will rattle your cage and provide some unexpected spontaneity and rebirth, as it did for Richard. It could be the plants and the horticulture, it could be the wildlife and the ecological investment, or maybe it’s the friendships and the exchange of baking and recipes over morning tea. Or perhaps it’s just the sheer beauty and therapy of a regular dose of vitamin nature.

Either way, caring for Country is nothing new. It is, however, an invitation to continue what has been a piece of every generation’s obligation and duty for thousands of years. It’s a connection to who we are and where we are from.