Stories of revival: the Big Scrub Rainforest
'The Big Scrub' – Archibald James Campbell, 1900
Only a couple of hundred years ago much of the lands of the Widjabul Wia Bal was covered by the largest continuous expanse of lowland subtropical rainforest in Australia. The ancient forests of towering Wudjeh (Red Cedar), Booyong, Cudgerie and countless other species covered an area just larger than Singapore with a canopy so thick that the sun rarely reached the forest floor. The Big Scrub provided a bounty of fruits and other food sources for grey headed flying foxes, Wompoo Fruit Doves and the Widjabul Wia Bal too. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t think about what it must have been like to walk amongst these trees.
The arrival of the cedar-getters in the 1840s spelt the beginning of the end for the Big Scrub. Once they’d found and felled more “red gold” than they could ever have imagined, the government decrees to slash and burn the forests to ash almost destroyed any trace of the ecosystem forever. By the mid 1900s only 1% remained, scattered across small remnants that somehow evaded colonial expansion.
In 1993 a group got together to start Big Scrub Landcare (now Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy) and restore weed-infested remnants like the Booyong Flora Reserve. As President and Founder Tony Parkes told us in an interview a couple of years ago, the organisation has now helped to plant over 2.5 million trees and increased what was left of the Big Scrub by 75% in 30 years!
Now the Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy has moved into its next phase - partnering with Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens & using genetic science ensure the survival of this unique rainforest by promoting genetic diversity & climate resilience in the long term.
From borderline extinction to widespread regeneration across the region, the Big Scrub is truly a tale of revival.
Let’s keep planting.
You can read more about the efforts of the Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy in our 2021 interview with its Founder & President, Dr Tony Parkes AO
‘We are all Big Scrub People’
By Anthony Acret
Growing up, I can remember when, to escape the summer heat, we would head up to the hinterland and the cool, humid, shady world of the rainforest. The richness of this sensory experience – with the pulsating drumming of cicadas, the fresh earthiness of rainforest smells, the cool and crystal streams, and the complexity of the rainforest – created a lasting and vivid impression of this place, and draws me back.
Do you live, work or play within the footprint of the original Big Scrub? What is this place like now? Think about how this place works in today's landscape – what plants are there? Are you near any Big Scrub remnants (or remnant trees)? What is the soil like? Are there any waterways that flow through this place?
While there are challenges, I like to think about the future of this landscape. And to imagine a future where we connect with our neighbours (next door or across the valley); where we embrace the teachings of the local Aboriginal people of this country; and where our farmers are rewarded for their careful stewardship of the land. Where all of our waterways are nurtured by landcarers. A future of interconnected restoration areas where plants and animals can step their way across the landscape meeting their ecological needs; and where we all feel the connection with this place.
A future where our society values the contributions of the characters from the 'frontline' who have such wonderful knowledge to share: bush regenerators, seed collectors, nursery people, farmers and landholders, gardners, planners, Aboriginal custodians... the Big Scrub people. But wait, that is you, too – all of the people that spend part of their lives in this area. We are all Big Scrub people.
Another history is being written about this country. You can hear talk about this movement when Big Scrub people come together – energy that flows through the annual Big Scrub Rainforest Day. Energy that makes us all want to build a stronger and more resilient community, together. A process of renewal is underway – just like the natural resilience of the land, the spirit of the land to come back. Work with it. Can you see it? Can you feel it?
An extract from The Big Scrub Rainforest: A Journey Through Time.
You can purchase a copy of this beautiful book in the shop.