Tag Archives: Lower Mountains

Every Autumn Blue Mountains City Council conducts water monitoring on more than 70 creeks, adding to 25 years of data. A new group of ‘Aquatic Scientists’ has joined the ranks of the professionals. Glenbrook Public School Year 6 students have been armed with the tools and knowledge to help look after the health of our waterways.

Aerial firefighting is proving to be a game changer in tackling bushfires. Since the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, the NSW Rural Fire Service’s fleet of helicopters and fixed-wing planes has grown from 4 to 11. Warrimoo local Rod Walker is an Air Attack Supervisor who flies through smoke-filled skies to help keep our communities safe.

Southeast Asian rice paddies are one of the inspirations behind a stormwater treatment initiative at Glenbrook, designed to protect Knapsack Creek and ultimately, the Hawkesbury Nepean River.

The father of evolutionary theory, Charles Darwin, expressed remorse late in life about not doing more to help the earth’s creatures. A century and a half later in the lower Blue Mountains, his great-great-grandson Chris Darwin is devoting his life to addressing this regret.

Every Friday at the Lower Mountains Neighbourhood Centre, women come together to transform balls of wool into blankets, beanies & teddies. Their creations find their way to people in nursing homes, premature babies, vulnerable children, homeless people or those living with terminal illness.

They are furry, silent, super cute and have been likened to a gliding koala. However recent bushfires, heatwaves and extreme drought have led to Greater Gliders being listed as Endangered. What does the future hold for Blue Mountains Greater Gliders?

Nurtured by the bushland around his studio and the storytelling of past cultures, Jonathan Drew recovered from depression and became an oral storyteller. He believes these stories provide clues to living a good life in harmony with the natural world.

For seven years, Blaxland Preschool Kindergarten has been delivering an innovative nature-based program that encourages adventure & risk-taking. Inspired by Scandinavian Forest Kindergartens, Bush Preschool is offered to children one day a fortnight.

A deep passion for turtles can take you to some interesting places – waist deep in mud one day and onto a movie set the next. Shane Davies leads Turtle Rescues NSW, saving thousands of Australian native freshwater turtles from certain death each year.

A beautiful dining table, a piano, a wooden canoe, bicycles and books – not what I expected to find at my local ‘tip’. Turning trash into treasure is just one way our Blue Mountains community is reducing materials going to landfill.