Stories From: Bushcare

Almost 30 years ago, the Blue Mountains Wildplant Rescue Service began salvaging local plant species from building sites. Its Katoomba Native Plant Nursery continues to preserve and propagate the plants of our World Heritage area while helping locals recreate a piece of the bush at home.

Shane Grundy at Bush Doctor HQ explains how soft engineering techniques are helping rejuvenate swamps and improve water quality in the Blue Mountains.

In April the Maldhan Ngurr Ngurra Lithgow Transformation Hub launched its first citizen science activity for 2023: the Lake Pillans BioBlitz. I spoke with Alice Blackwood, ecologist and Field Technician at Western Sydney University about citizen science and their findings at Lake Pillans.

What goes on under all those poly-tunnels at Lithgow & District Community Nursery? Get the low down here.

Keith Brister is on a mission. He and his fellow Bushcare volunteers spent years “achieving the impossible”, protecting Blackheath’s stunning natural bushland, only to see the weeds return when COVID restrictions limited Bushcare. But Keith did not despair. Instead, he asked what else could be done, and set about doing it.

Twenty years ago the hanging swamps of North Lawson were being churned up by 4WDs and motorbikes. The passion of local residents saved them - discover their story here.

The Swamp Diaries is an initiative of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute. Over 12 months, artists are spending time with precious and endangered upland swamp ecosystems across the Blue Mountains and creatively documenting the flora and fauna they observe.

Belle and Hamish from the Planetary Health Initiative meet up with South Lawson Bushcare volunteers, Peter Ardill and Erst Carmichael. They talk about ecological restoration, volunteering and South Lawson Bushcare's origins.

While Blue Mountains residents are all too familiar with the more visible impacts of climate change such as floods, droughts and fires, another lesser known impact of extreme weather is urban forest decline and tree death.

Blue Mountains Bushland Nursery Incentive is Blue Mountains City Council’s free accreditation scheme to prevent the sale of invasive priority weeds within our Local Government Area and is supported by the Nursery & Garden Industry NSW & ACT.