Before you watch the video below, here is our journey:

In August 2013 when we moved into our beautiful bushland property, I knew nothing about native flora and fauna. A new camera, the time to explore our bushland in detail and the curiosity to find out what I had photographed led to this blog. Over the years, I have come to understand how unusual it is to have so many species of wildflowers on a relatively small piece of land. I’m still finding new ones, and still have a list to add to the blog. Diagnosis of a serious illness in 2018 intensified my desire to protect the land beyond my own lifetime. My wonderful partner Richard also felt strongly. We decided to explore the possibility of protecting it with a nature covenant.

Coincidently (or is anything ever mere coincidence?) the Trust For Nature people were dropping leaflets in letterboxes in our area. We made the phone call, and made contact with Jo and Chris, who came out to view the property. Over the past 18 months we have been undertaking a process which leads us toward a legally binding nature covenant. We signed the documents in December 2020, and are now waiting on the final approval. Trust For Nature helped us to develop a land management plan, a more detailed species list, and identified threats which we need to keep an eye on. One of these is the Bluebell Creeper, a Western Australian plant which has become a weed in our area.

Over the next few months I will adapt my Fifteen Acres species list to include the new species we have identified, including those exotic plants which need to be removed. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this short video which features three new local Trust For Nature landholders, including myself and Richard. Here’s to the exciting years ahead of us as we get to know our land on a whole new level.