Forever Wild
December 7, 2018
Despite the fact we have not yet formalized our engagement committee in the communities around the Tropical Wetlands Reserve, the community is showing incredible support for the Forever Wild Tropical Wetlands reserve. Forever Wild programs empower social investment in wilderness by society at all levels, and in turn that society drives a lot of how that looks. In this case, at the local level the theatre Group in the small town of Mareeba, one of the communities close to the reserve, ran their opening night as a fundraiser for the reserve. They raised $2200, an astounding amount for a small amateur acting group in remote Australia. This is outstanding example of how […]
November 21, 2018
As part of Forever Wild’s ongoing push to connect the Earth’s natural landscapes and our societies, we worked with local partners to host an event against domestic violence on Tuesday 20th of November 2018. With Mareeba Community Housing Company and Mulungu Aboriginal Corporation Health Center the day brought together over 30 men from the community around the Tropical Wetlands, with the purpose of directly talking about the need to protect the women in our lives from violence – be they wives, sisters, mothers, aunts or simply friends. The day was geared towards direct talk as well as healing, connecting with oneself, others and the land. Sitting under the trees talking about our […]
September 18, 2018
We are Geoff and Rosemarie. One of us is a wildlife video production person. The other is a keen outdoors woman. We have always had a passion for wildlife and nature. Being in close proximity to wildlife and seeing them at their best, means conservation becomes a lot more personal. Volunteering for organisations like Forever Wild is payback for the debt of enjoying those astounding experiences. We believe that unless the special places and wild species are protected, actively looked after and, where necessary, rewilded, Australia will lose its special creatures and places. We will become like just so many other places where wild nature is becoming a memory that almost doesn’t […]
September 18, 2018
Grazier Mick and family recently moved a small mob of cattle onto sections of the Tropical Wetlands reserve. Grazing on this reserve will be used as a management tool to control a range of invasive African grasses. Many years ago these grasses were introduced to Australia for pastoralism, and have created serious weed problems in many places. One of the biggest challenges is the heat that these grasses produce when burned, but they also crowd out many native understory species. Low-level grazing will remove a lot of the biomass of these weeds. Apart from weed and fire management, the grazing is part of our Wilderness economies program, providing local economic input and […]
September 10, 2018
The caretakers on the Tropical Wetlands reserve have been sweating under the tropical sun as they work to prepare a small dam as a rehabilitation area for waterbirds, turtles and other aquatic species. The dam has to be cleaned out of all the old vegetation, fenced, filled and then planted.
September 3, 2018
We’ll bring you updates as we work to map the ancient and contemporary history of the Tropical Wetlands reserve. Fortunately, since the inception of the reserve under the Mareeba Wetlands Foundation a good deal of historical documents were compiled, particularly around early settler history but also early agricultural surveys. Now we are mapping those documents against physical locations on the reserve to ensure we make it as tangible as possible. Alongside the early European settler and more recent history, we are talking to the local Muluridji people to develop a program for them to search for sites of cultural significance. Some of the work and locations are sensitive so care is being […]
September 3, 2018
Photographer Tobias Baumgaertner has been capturing some remarkable images on our Tropical Wetlands reserve. This one of the Milky Way over Clancy’s lagoon is definitely one to stir the imagination. We have nights like this regularly on the reserve and it is a powerful draw for people wanting to experience the majesty of an unpolluted night sky, just as humans walked under for more than a million years.
September 3, 2018
Dry, hot days; brittle grass; leaves crunching underfoot; black cockatoos coming to roost; groves of broad-leaved paperbarks in flower. The paperwasps around the in the photo were flying in and out at a furious pace. It is the Late dry on the Tropical Wetlands reserve in North Queensland, a time of tough conditions for many of the wild residents. Fire is constantly on the minds of the rangers, but hopefully the wasp nest would be high enough above any flames to survive. Apart from enjoying the wildlife we have been busy with two main tasks: pulling together all the historical documents that were collected over the years and beginning the process of […]
July 17, 2018
Forever Wild is working to launch its One Earth program, capturing the links between humanity and wilderness from around the planet. It is hugely ambitious and we hope will endure over generations to come. Watch this space!