After making a recent donation to Wilsons River Landcare we had a chat to Kristin den Exter. Turns out she’s volunteered for the grassroots community organisation for almost thirty years!

We just hit our first $1000 in donations from the proceeds of sticker & ticketed RTNR event sales and we’re pretty stoked about it!

We chatted to Shae about heaps of stuff! From her great-grandfather being the local baker in the Clarence Valley, the many names given to the river system, and the simple beauty of Biirrinba itself. She also shed some light on the immense risks inherent from the proposed mines that threaten the health of one of the largest river systems on the Eastern Seaboard.

Bundjalung woman Mindy Woods was among those to speak at the Lismore City Council handback of Banyam Baigham to the traditional owners – the Widjabul-Wia-bal people of the Bundjalung Nation. We spoke about Bundjalung Country, echidnas and the future preservation and conservation of sacred sites across the Northern Rivers.

Originally hailing from the Gold Coast, Olly Pitt relocated to the Northern Rivers to study her Bachelor in Marine Biology. While studying at Southern Cross University she also volunteered at Australian Seabird Rescue with her good mate Kelsey. Olly is now the General Manager of Australian Seabird Rescue in Ballina with Kelsey by her side as the trusty Assistant Manager. We swung by Australian Seabird Rescue in Ballina on a rainy morning to chat about scary birds, fishing entanglements (#Dontcuttheline) and why healthier rivers should mean less sharks in the Northern Rivers.

We spoke Tony Parkes, the co-founder and President of Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy, about Wompoo Fruit Doves, NSW Premier Neville Wran and Big Scrub Landcare’s Science Saving Rainforests program.

We sat down with Michele Lockwood to talk about creating your own small frog pond, why we shouldn’t touch frogs and why the La Niña weather pattern has been great for the little amphibians.

It’s hard to find people that love the Big Scrub subtropical rainforest more than Jake and he shared his love of all things rainforest with our sold out (but small) crowd.

A mighty red cedar stands tall in the sunlight. One of few that remain after a European thirst for timber that seemed impossible to quench.

Jake’s main motto for rainforest plantings is “shade, shade, shade!”

Then all it takes is a combination of birds and the wind to begin the natural process of seed dispersal and germination.

The Big Scrub originally covered around 900 square kilometres of the Bundjalung & Githabul nations across Northern NSW. It is estimated that 1% of the original Big Scrub remains.

The English name actually comes from the long straight stem of the plant which was harvested post WW1 to make walking sticks for returned soldiers who were wounded.

These plants are incredibly well adapted to the Australian landscape, they survive well in dry areas and are able to regenerate and thrive after being subject to bushfires. They’re often the first shades of green to appear in a charred landscape.

Lyndy and Tony have worked to fence off and replant 4 hectares along 2km of riverfront on the Wilsons River.