Learning that we are one and from nature we come

 Before European settlement of the Speers Point area of which Munibung Hill is considered a part, Aboriginal families respected Kona-konaba as an integral part of country inhabited by all the  native plants and animals they considered kin. Families would have been visiting Munibung Hill for centuries and watched Awaba, which we now know and love as Lake Macquarie, take shape  within the lowland area. The children of the time would have been brought up in the ways of the land as their Earth Mother, who sustained their every need. (1)

Fast forward to 2024 and we have the story of a group who are taking children into the bush as part of their caring for country ethic.  Belinda Turner* reports:

TODAY WE RETURNED to Munibung Hill to continue to build the foundations for children to be active citizens and agents of change, through a community Landcare project – at the Parkstone Close Landcare site.

We observed the changes in the bush space since our last visit and after the recent heavy rain. We remembered the sandpaper fig we had been learning about and tried to identify it by feeling the texture of different leaves as we passed by.

Taking the time to slow down we acknowledged that this is a new space, and a sense of belonging is important as it allows the children to feel secure and focused.

Building a relationship with this space is vital for our children so that they build the desire to protect it. With this in mind, we held ‘sit spots’ for the children to slow down and observe their surroundings with all of their senses, strengthening their connection to the space by boosting their sensory input of the environment around them.

Our volunteers explained how the removal of some of the invasive plants had allowed some of the native plants and fungi to thrive. We were fortunate enough to have a volunteer identify several different kinds of fungi we saw during our visit.

We learned how the plant life changed the higher up the mountain we moved. We observed the piles of weeds we had removed on our last visit and noticed that the piles had become smaller as the weeds had started to break down. The animal shelter we had built on our last visit helped us to identify the space that now looked so different to our previous visit.

We observed the bird and bug life that inhabit the area and watched the way they make each part of the bush their home. We can’t wait to see the impact we can have on this space as our regular visits continue and we learn more about the important role we can play in helping regenerate and preserve the area.

And we are so thankful to our volunteers for sharing their time and knowledge with us and for the work they do in our community every day.

Editor:

(1) With Eurpoean colonisation Munibung Hill was forcibly removed from indigenous custodianship, lore and oral story, to be replaced by a culture that had a poor understanding of the ecological and cultural heritage extending across tens of thousands of years. With the introduction of plants and animals with which she was not able to compete, she was subjected to practices that now requires intervention to control the invasive species that have taken hold and if not appropriately controlled threaten to irreparably alter the native species and in so doing greatly reduce the biodiversity and beauty of her catchments.

   …. First appeared in MMM Issue #44, June-July 2024