This month I’ve started to prepare a series of lesson plans on Western Australia’s environmental history for local high schools. The sustainability NGO HotRock has commissioned me to do this. So much bioregional awareness is missing from the minds of urban Australians, and it is a pleasure to be helping to restore some of it in the lives of young people.
The Jewel beetle above is one member of the ecological community in which I move. It is a small creature, but its story is one thread in the billion year-old narrative of a once glorious landscape. To uncover this greater picture takes us far through both space and time. Once we have completed the journey our sense of place in Perth is changed forever. With a new perspective on our world, with a new story in our minds, we move closer to becoming truly Western Australian, truly of this land.
I am happy to start with small beginnings.