Recreating the Country
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Recreating the Country blog

Recreating the Country book launch                    on the Bellarine Peninsula

26/6/2024

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 Guest blogger Christina Carter
Picture
Christina Carter is the Founder and Creator of Gumnut Trails adventure guides for exploring wild Melbourne. She recognises the important role that time in nature plays in increasing  happiness, health, creativity and resilience in children’s development, providing them with important memories that will stick.

She believes Melbourne is bursting with amazing nature spots that are perfect for parents with children to explore. You just need to know where to look...

‘It’s also true, that the more time children spend in nature when they’re young, the more they remember and care about our environment when they grow up. Let’s face it - our planet needs all the support it can get.’ (Quote from the Gumnut Trails website)

Photography Tian Murphy

The book launch begins
Picture


Have you ever wondered what a pardalote, a Spotted-tailed Quoll, a Brown Snake or even a Red Fox really has to say…?



PictureSophie Small, Bellarine Landcare's facilitator & MC for the night
On Wednesday June 12th, 100 Landcare enthusiasts gathered to watch a play about wildlife and launch the second edition of Stephen Murphy’s book – ‘Recreating the Country,’ were about to find out.

As the audience were taking their seats; the western wall of Tuckerberry Hill’s café was lit by inspiring drone footage of Marcus Hill vineyard’s biorich plantation – an example of the design principles of Recreating the Country in action. Amazingly, this plantation of 7000 trees was planted single-handedly by one of the owners Margot, over just three years. It is now 14 years old.

Here is 1 minute of highlights of the drone footage. Enjoy the birdsong;
The opening act - the wildlife play
The animals finally speak


Gather round and listen to the stories of the creatures living here,
though the spirit speaks through them they are uneasy as they've learnt to live in fear,
​but today they are with friends who have come to listen and to learn….”
 

​
(Opening lines from the play: The Spirit of the Bellarine)

As the ancient whisperings of wind through Drooping Sheoak faded, the Spirit of the Bellarine told a story of a past time when the landscape was cared for by the Beangala clan of the Wadawurrung people.
PictureThe Spirit of the Bellarine Peninsula invited us to slow down and listen to nature's song

Slowly the 11 animals emerged one by one to share their stories amongst the audience. But what did they have to say...?

Each animals’ unique personalities and stories were expertly played by the drama students from the Bellarine Secondary College.
​
The original play was written by Stephen Murphy (our resident author) to give voice to the local wildlife we all care so deeply about.

​​
Please click on the images below to enlarge and read the captions:

The Antechinus expressed her frustration with kids and men
The Bluetongue skink was slow & dopy in the mornings
A quiet and shy Bandicoot felt safer with more on-ground shelter
The Red Fox boasted about the small marsupials he loved to eat
The Platypus emerged from a clear pond to tell his story
The Spotted Quoll declared 'the native animals are fighting back'
The Brown Snake brashly hissed about
The Sugar Glider loves the night life
The Spotted Pardalote was committed to 'proper' cleaning
It is a rare moment when all these animals are seen together
We enjoyed a simulated ride on the back of an Ichnuemon Wasp
...and the faces behind the masks were revealed

​Enjoy this 1 minute
​highlights video of the night

The main act - the book launch
​
Recreating the Country. Second edition

- 14 years in the making
PictureStephen Murphy
After an introduction by Beth Ross, Stephen spoke about his passion for the environment and how the seed for his book was first sown in 2007 - when he spoke at a seminar run by Ballarat Region Treegrowers. It was Gib Wettenhall, the group’s president, an author and journalist, who suggested that Stephen’s ideas on sustainable design was a book waiting to be written - and he was 100% right! Stephen spoke about how Gib became his editor and mentor as he researched and wrote the first edition published in 2009.  ​

It was inspiring to hear about the real impact the book has had over the past 14 years. Many of the six case studies shared on the night highlighted  how Stephen’s blueprint has led to thriving plantations that are self-sustaining and naturally regenerative.

In contrast, we also heard about how many farm plantations sadly die out over a couple of generations due to poor design and management  - often leading to more problems and expense for the landowners. 

Stephen is keen for people to ‘plant and connect’ with their new plantations, which he emphasised is good for their mental health as well as the natural environment.

The plantation that Margot planted at the winery was highlighted as a local case study. In 14 years she established an 80m wide wildlife corridor, bringing back many local bird species, mammals and insects. Indigenous grasses are now returning naturally in what looks like a natural open woodland that has been there forever.

PictureThank you to Bellarine Landcare and everyone who helped to make this book launch a resounding success
​The Ballarat Region Treegrowers also planted a 20ha demonstration site at Lal Lal, Victoria. It now supports annual tours by Melbourne University and Deakin University students who are keen to learn about sustainable biorich design. They are excited by the prospect of biodiversity plantings providing a good income to the landowner while supporting the recovery of local wildlife.

Recreating the Country is a book with generational impact
​

If you would like to learn how to design and plant sustainable landscapes that will last for centuries - and make our land healthier and more productive. 

​'Recreating the Country. Ten key principles for designing sustainable landscapes' 
is an essential read for anyone who wants to know how to restore landscapes that will grow and evolve as nature intended.

Click for a copy of 'Recreating the Country'
​Closing credits -
​ 
A big thank you to everyone involved
PictureBeth Ross
Thank you to Lachie Forbes, Bursaria Ecological, who filmed and arranged the drone footage, and ornithologist Glen White, for providing the morning birdsong accompanying the drone’s ‘kestrel flight.’
Thank you to Beth Ross for introducing Stephen and giving his background story, and Bernie Malone, Bellarine Landcare Group's President, for his closing remarks. 

​
​​Thank you to the talented drama students of Bellarine Secondary College; Alisa (Spirit of the Bellarine), Lily (Spotted Quoll & Antechinus), Pipa (Bandicoot), Macy (Sugar Glider), Rico (Spotter Pardalote & Bluetongue Skink), Isaac (Brown Snake), Roxy (Echidna & Ichneumon Wasp) and Wren (Red Fox & Platypus), for your beguiling performances. Thank you also to their supportive teacher Cassia Webster.

A final big thank you to Chris and David at Tuckerberry Hill for providing their wonderful café venue and helping to make the night a success.

It’s appropriate the ‘Spirit of the Bellarine Peninsula’ has the final word;
Picture

‘The spirit of the peninsula sent out a plea to the new people who lived around,
come and listen to the singing that was once such a beautiful sound,
the stillness you seek can be discovered in the beauty of this place.
Stop and listen to the spirit and take timeout from the rat-race,
observe in nature what is needed to restore good health to this special space.’





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    '​RECREATING the COUNTRY'
    Ten key principles for designing sustainable landscapes 
    Second edition Updated & expanded

    Click on the image below to read more
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    Stephen Murphy is an author and ecologist. He has worked as a nurseryman and designer of natural landscapes for over 30 years. He loves the bush, actively supporting Landcare and conservation initiatives throughout Australia
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Site content © Stephen Murphy, 20​25

  • Home
  • be Challenged
    • Design to restore lost biodiversity >
      • Diversity >
        • Making a list of plants for revegetation
      • Structure >
        • Ecology Snapshot - wildlife and their habitat
      • Species survival
      • Location - connections
      • Blueprint for Recreating the Counrty
    • Biodiversity and profit >
      • Designing for profit
    • Managing sustainable biorich landscapes
  • be Informed
    • Indigenous flora of the Geelong district >
      • Indigenous plants - what & why
      • Acacias, wattles of the Geelong Region
      • Acacias - the cafes of the bush
      • Allocasuarinas/drooping sheoaks, Black Sheoak & Callitris glaucophylla/cypress-pine
      • Bursaria spinosa, Sweet Bursaria
      • Eucalypts, The Sentinals
      • Exocarpos cupressiformis, Cherry Ballart
      • Moonah, Melaleuca lanceolata
      • Small riparian myrtles
      • Wedge-leaf/Giant Hop-bush, Dodonaea viscosa
      • Wild Plants of Inverleigh
      • Tree Violet - as tenacious as a terrier
    • Nurseryman's diary >
      • Regent Honeyeater - a good news story
      • Give me a home among the gum trees
      • Symbiotic fungi
      • The joys of seed collecting
      • Landcare, who cares?
      • The last Silver Banksia
      • Neds Corner
      • River Red Gums and the Tuscan monks
  • be Entertained
    • Stories for children >
      • Amie and the intoxicated kangaroos
      • The Little Green Caterpillar
      • B'emus'ed - a Christmas tale of bursairas and emus
    • Stories about the natural world >
      • Brushtail
      • Cormorant
      • Eastern Bettongs. 'Truffle junkies' or 'ecosystem engineers'
      • Richards Sweet Rewards
      • Coxy's Curse
      • How the River Red Gum came to be - A dreamtime story
  • Bookshop
  • Blog
    • Easy blog finder
  • Contact