Issues around the natural environment
If you are keen to help the environment one of the most beneficial things you can do is to grow plants that are indigenous to your local area. These plants have evolved to grow in the soil and climatic conditions in your area and will also provide food for the native...
‘Burke’s Backyard’ visited Warrawong Sanctuary near Adelaide in South Australia where Dr John Wamsley has set up an extensive re-vegetation program and the careful re-introduction of native animals to the area. Vital to the success has been the...
For the past 10 years Jack and Sue Hasenpusch have been developing the Australian Insect Farm in Far North Queensland near Innisfail. It is an insect educational and breeding centre set on their 30 hectare (around 80 acre) rainforest property. The vast majority of...
Currawongs Increasing numbers of pied currawongs along Australia’s east coast are being seen as a threat to many small bird species, and a key factor in the spread of weeds into native bushland. The pied currawong is a large black bird, 41-51cm (16-20″)...
Landcare With the numbers of houses constantly growing, areas of pristine Australian bushland are being slowly destroyed. Only 5kms from Sydney’s CBD is a once pretty gully which had been allowed to become ugly and unhealthy. Group effort As recently as...
Lichens Lichens are organisms that grow in a variety of climates and can look very different. Even apparently barren areas can be colonised by lichens and in all they play an important role in helping our environment. Don Burke recently spoke to Dr David...
Lichens, Mosses, Liverworts and Algae If you have ever admired the variegated colours and textures on the bark of a tree in an old garden, or the velvety growth on rocks in the bush, or the black glossy scales on pots, then you’ve been looking at some of...
Moths There have been a number of large moths in the Sydney region over spring which are Bogong moths (Agrostis infusa) that are migrating south to the Snowy Mountains for the summer. Bogong moths will come inside the house during the day to shelter but are...
Native Lichen One of the things that you’d very easily miss when you walk through the Australian bush is some of the very beautiful lichens. At a glance it looks like a bit like snow on the ground and it grows in more or less full sun. Lichens are a...
Numbats Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus) is an aboriginal name that has become the common name for the small striped marsupials that lived in south western Australia 200 years ago. They lived in hollows of mallee trees which covered 20% of Australia 200 years ago. When...