'Pretty' stuff

I promised I would do a more positive post so I've included some 'pretty' things. The deadline for our petition calling for a review into prescribed burning expired on 2 September. I created this meme to remind people to send them in by snail mail so we can submit to parliament in time. Although our small team of 5-6 people is pretty exhausted, we are making headway. Members of parliament and possibly even the government agencies we are scrutinising are starting to take note. Our Facebook group is becoming more widely known in cyberspace and the local community. 

I am now a committee member for the Denmark Environment Centre as well. I guess being involved with FaBWA and designing the flyer below for DEC it was inevitable I would get roped in. I went to my first meeting last Monday and it was 3 hours long! I spend a lot of time in meetings lately but unfortunately there are processes we have to engage in to get results. 

The DEC has grown in membership lately too - seems a lot of the city folk moving here to escape the rat race are environmentally minded. This is a positive and unexpected consolation for having my small coastal town invaded by sea-changers. Many local farmers, tradies and rednecks don't give a toss for the environment and work actively against it. If city people want to preserve the environment - I mean that's probably why they are moving here - I'm more than happy to have them on board. They are interested (and cashed up too). The DEC organised a nocturnal fauna spotting excursion last week and 100 people turned up! That's unheard of.

The next pretty image was taken by Terry Dunham. Terry is the admin. of the Stirling Range National Park Recovery Group. I met Terry 20 years ago when I was living in a caravan at a beachside park. He popped up again recently on Facebook when he became a member of our Fire & Biodiversity group.

This is a tricky photo because although it was taken onsite in an undisclosed location, the background is actually a poster of another of Terry's photos. He explained that he did this because he wanted to hide the location. Pretty clever and makes for a stunning pic. The plant is Darwinia meeboldii (Cranbrook Bell). 

I'll finish off with a cute fluffy marsupial. This is a Mardo (Antechinus). I showcased this little guy in another Facebook post. The photographer is Lyn Alcock and she takes some of the most amazing photos of Numbats, Echidnas and Mardos in the Dryandra forest. I can't believe she got this shot - these guys are quick!

Australia has some of the most unusual and stunning species of flora and fauna, and we are fighting really hard to preserve them.