Tag Archives: Biodiversity

Australian Pollinator Week 2023 is 11-19 November. And BUZZBUZZ is a new shop that has opened in Leura to champion pollinators. You can too - find out how here.

November is turtle nesting season and this month hundreds of these popular reptiles will be travelling to nesting sites across the Blue Mountains. Thanks to Springwood resident, Associate Professor Ricky Spencer and the innovative citizen science project 1 Million Turtles, there is a lot everyone can do to make sure our local turtle populations are protected and healthy.

Dr Megan Halcroft, from Hampton, is a leading educator on native bees. She's creating awareness around the critical role of our native bees in protecting biodiversity. She spoke with Planetary Health writer Tracie McMahon at Eskbank House earlier this year.

Margaret Gough ran a WIRES animal refuge for more than two decades, was District Commissioner for Scouts in the Blue Mountains, and coordinated the Lithgow Community Centre for a decade. Her home was burnt in Mount Victoria during the 2013 fires, but she’s rebuilt and is now more prepared. She continues to nurture the diverse life on ‘her patch’.  

The Rotary Club of Blackheath has launched a Birds, Bees, Butterflies and Bats Pollinator Project. With 65% of the world’s flowering plants, including crops and trees, requiring some form of animal pollination, helping pollinators is critical to planetary health. Club President Sherlie McMillian explains how we can support pollinators in Blackheath, the Blue Mountains and beyond.

The Long-nosed Bandicoot is back in the Lower and Mid Mountains, and many residents are rejoicing at having visits from these furry friends. Find out about the benefits they bring and how to create a bandicoot-friendly garden here.

From cats to cars, barbed wire to fruit nets, native wildlife face daily dangers, many of them human-related. In a Wildlife Emergency Assistance Workshop presented by Tracy Burgess from the Blue Mountains Branch of WIRES participants learnt about measures we can take to prevent injuries to wildlife, and what to do if we encounter an injured or sick native animal.

Nesting hollows for native wildlife are in diminishing supply. Historical and ongoing loss of old trees due to clearing, arboriculture works and bushfires cause ongoing loss of habitat. Learn more & find out how you can help here.

Lithgow has changed dramatically since 1910 when the needs of a growing industrial City resulted in deforestation and pollution. We’ve taken drone footage to compare Lithgow in 1910 with Lithgow today and we discuss the encouraging progress we’ve made in regenerating our City.

Katoomba artist, writer and scholar Teya Brooks Pribac has spent the last two decades learning about the rich, complex lives and contributions of the animals who are our allies in creating a habitable planet. As part of her animal advocacy she's written Enter the Animal and Not Just Another Vegan Cookbook. New work on animal cultures is on the horizon.