When bushfires raged across South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula in 2005, North Shields farmer John Cook watched his property burn as he barricaded himself in the bathroom with his wife and one of his daughters.
Key points:
- Farmer John Cook lost sheds, machinery, historic stone buildings, fences, and 500 sheep in the Black Tuesday Wangary bushfire in 2005
- He lost valuable vegetation lining a creek but it regenerated
- Local school children have propagated seedlings from the regenerated trees and planted a new generation on the farm
Their stone home withstood the fire but the paddocks were scorched.
They lost 500 sheep, fences, the shearing shed and farming equipment.
The road to recovery seemed overwhelming, but from the blackened earth came an unexpected gift.
A mat of green has emerged along the edge of the trickling Meadow Creek which runs across his property.
The creek bed has rejuvenated and now students from St Joseph’s School Port Lincoln are helping plant more trees using the seeds from the fully grown bushfire seedlings.
It is helping the ecology but the students are also getting their hands dirty and connecting with nature.
ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton
)Empowering students
Teacher Lisa Fox said about 200 middle school students were involved in the From Little Things Big Things Grow project, funded by the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board.
They collected seeds on the property in November, dried them out, propagated them at the school and planted the seedlings near the creek bed.
“It does feel like a bit of a magic trick when you take what looks like a seed the size of a grain of pepper and here we are six months later and they’re growing into healthy trees,” she said.
“It will be really exciting to monitor that over the years to come.
“It’s really awesome to see kids realise they can make a difference.
“All too often, when you look into the environment education area it can tend to be a little bit overwhelming when you look at the challenges that are posed and kids are really aware of that.
Supplied: Lisa Fox
)Mr Cook said he planted trees in 1985 and 1994 along the creek bed to help soak up water and avoid a salinity issue.
Those trees had burnt in the Black Tuesday Wangary bushfire but the recovery had been heartwarming.
“It’s amazing within that first year you could see little shoots coming and then you could see the ground was a mat of seedlings,” Mr Cook said.
Some of his initial plantings, including a Western Australian species called a flat-topped yate (Eucalyptus occidentalis), paperbarks (Melaleucas), local water mallees (Eucalyptus porosa) and local blue gums (Eucalyptus petiolaris), were up to 7.5 metres tall when the fire decimated them.
ABC Eyre Peninsula: Jodie Hamilton
)Green treasure
Mr Cook said farming was a game of balancing the ecosystem with clearing land to crop and make a living.
He said the creek vegetation project would provide shelter for his stock as well as beautify the farm.
“In the winter time, and into late spring, it’s really quite a spectacular peaceful scene with the water flowing and now that we’ve got plenty of trees there it’s really quite a treasure to have,” Mr Cook said.
Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board officer Rachael Kannussaar said the Grassroots Grant Program, which funded the school’s project, offered seed funding for community projects each year and had seen “great ideas” come to life.
