The Blueprint is a publication dedicated to documenting local solutions to global problems. Based in the Blue Mountains but speaking to a global audience, we focus on stories of sustainability, disaster resilience, and community building.

We believe the answers to many global challenges can be found in backyard plots and community collaborations. By telling the stories of our region’s “bottom-up” revolution, we provide actionable models for anyone, anywhere, to replicate.

The Blueprint is produced by Blue Mountains Planetary Health, an initiative of Blue Mountains City Council. The city of the Blue Mountains is one of only two cities worldwide within a UNESCO World Heritage-listed National Park.

Join us as we explore how the future is being shaped by hand, locally, and together. Discover the blueprint for a more resilient world.

Learn more about us here >

By Vera Xia - Lecturer in Design and Urban Technology, University of Sydney

Sydney, like many other Australian cities, has a long history of urban farming. Market gardens, oyster fisheries and wineries on urban fringe once supplied fresh food to city markets.

As suburbs expanded, many farms in and around cities were converted to houses, roads and parks. The process is continuing.

But this isn’t the whole story. Urban farming is making a comeback in a different guise.

Underneath the Barangaroo towers in Sydney’s CBD, a basement carpark has been transformed into a farm. Trays of more than 40 different varieties of sprouts and microgreens grow under LED lights, often maturing within two weeks. Within hours of harvest, they’re in the kitchens of nearby restaurants.

The urban farmers use sensors, ventilation systems and smartphone apps to ensure growing conditions are ideal. From around 150 square metres, farmers produce about 5,000 punnets a week. Farms such as this one at Urban Green Sydney are part of a broader shift towards high-tech urban farming.

In my research, we asked what these new forms of urban farming mean for cities. Do they make cities and their far-flung food supply chains more resilient to climate change – or do they consume energy without enough to show for it?

Urban smart greenhouses work well for microgreens, herbs and several other crops. Vera Xia, CC BY-NC-ND

Greenhouse – or laboratory?

Greenhouses are a way of controlling the growing conditions for plants. The technology has deep historical roots, from early greenhouse experiments during the Roman Empire to progress in 15th century Korea and advances during the Victorian era such as the Wardian Case, which allowed live plants to survive long sea voyages.

Traditional greenhouses act as climate-controlled enclosures for plants. These days, smart greenhouses use sensors and digital monitoring to optimise, and often automate, plant growth.

Large-scale rural farms such as South Australia’s Sundrop Farms already demonstrate how smart greenhouses, renewable energy and desalination can power food production in harsh climates. Overseas, countries including Spain and China have rolled out smart greenhouses at scale in rural areas.

But these technologies are being urbanised, appearing in commercial buildings, rooftops and even domestic kitchens.

One of the best places to see what smart greenhouses look like is the Agritech Precinct at Western Sydney University. Here, researchers experiment with the “unprecedented control” of temperature, humidity and light the technologies permit on crops such as eggplants and lettuce.

The greenhouses use drones to water crops, robotic arms to harvest them and smart lighting systems to manage growth. Visiting these facilities doesn’t give you the sense you’re in a farm. It feels more like a laboratory.

Technologies like these are promoted in official plans for Greater Sydney, which call for “new opportunities for growing fresh food close to a growing population and freight export infrastructure associated with the Western Sydney Airport”, particularly in Sydney’s peri-urban areas.

Australia is funding research on improving these technologies as a way to future-proof food production.

Researchers are conducting similar experiments with smart greenhouses around the world, from the United States to the Netherlands.

Which crops work best in cities?

Smart greenhouses can’t do everything.

Grain crops need much more space. Fruit trees don’t work well with space constraints. Some vegetable crops don’t lend themselves well to intense high-tech production.

The cost of running LED lights and smart systems mean farmers have to focus on what’s profitable. Many hyped urban farming ventures have failed.

These challenges don’t mean the approach is worthless. But it does mean farmers have to be selective about what they grow. To date, crops such as tomatoes, leafy greens, and herbs have proven the best performers. These crops can be grown relatively quickly in space-restricted, repurposed urban areas mostly hidden from public view and sold to restaurants or individual buyers.

Smart greenhouses producing these type of crops have emerged in Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide.

Urban farmers often draw on the promise of sustainability and low food miles in their branding. But the technologies raise questions around equity. Do these farms share environmental and social benefits fairly across the city or are they concentrated in a few rich areas?

Smart greenhouses can optimise plant growing conditions – but come at an energy cost. Ann H/Pexels, CC BY-NC-ND

Smart greenhouse technology – at home?

The humble veggie patch is an Australian staple. But the shift to apartment living and larger building sizes risks crowding it out.

At household scale, smart greenhouses and apps are making it possible for some people to begin producing larger volumes of food in kitchens, balconies and backyards as a DIY method of boosting food security and self-sufficiency.

Compact growing appliances promise to automate production of fresh herbs and baby vegetables. Hydroponic grow tents can grow almost anything indoors (though they are commonly used for illicit crops). Maker communities are using open-source tools such as Hackster to automate watering, lighting and data collection.

Using these technologies at home seems positive, acting to boost home-grown food supplies and increase resilience in the face of food supply chain issues. In fact, it’s perhaps the most uneven frontier. Rather than working to spread smart agriculture across a cityscape, these approaches resemble prepping – efforts to boost individual household resilience.

Making best use of smart greenhouses in cities

At their best, smart greenhouses dotted around cities work to create controlled environments where food can be produced close to where it is eaten. These high-tech, climate controlled environments are often hidden from view.

They promise resilience against the disruption climate change is bringing to agriculture and shorter supply chains. But these food production technologies also risk deepening inequality if they’re mainly taken up by wealthy consumers.

Whether these technologies ultimately benefit cities will depend on how they are integrated and positioned within our urban systems.

For urban authorities, the challenge is to ensure these emerging methods of producing food in the heart of cities boosts resilience collectively rather than fragment it. It will take policy guidance to ensure the benefits of these smart farms are shared equally.

Vera Xia - Lecturer in Design and Urban Technology, University of Sydney

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article >

Image: Robin Kutesa/Unsplash

Authors: Md Jaynul Abden and Jannatul Dil Afroze, Western Sydney University

Australia is getting hotter. Climate change is driving more frequent and prolonged extreme heatwaves and our homes are struggling to keep up. Alarmingly, many Australian houses – especially older ones – weren’t designed for these harsh conditions.

During a heatwave, large parts of the country’s interior can soar above 40°C. That’s not only uncomfortable but also dangerous, as extreme heat puts residents at serious health risk.

Heatwaves have caused more deaths in Australia than any natural disaster combined.

That’s where smart materials come in. They can significantly change some of their properties in a controlled manner in response to external stimuli, such as temperature. And they are being incorporated into materials such as bricks and roof cladding to make homes more resistant to heat fluctuations.

Air-conditioning can’t save us

The default fix? Turn on the air conditioner. But cooling our homes with machines comes at a cost. Our growing reliance on air conditioning creates a dangerous feedback loop: more heat leads to more energy use, which ultimately drives up carbon dioxide emissions if no solar power is available.

You might be surprised to learn that buildings are responsible for around 40% of global energy use and nearly one-third of carbon dioxide emissions. In Australia, up to 50% of household energy is consumed for heating and cooling depending on the climate zone – and demand peaks during heatwaves.

To reach net-zero emissions by 2050, we need more than just efficient appliances and rooftop solar. We need to rethink how homes interact with heat – and that’s where smart materials can make a real difference. Instead of simply blasting air-conditioning, we can build homes that actively respond to their environment.

An office building covered in air conditioners in Brazil. Image: Bran Sodre/Pexels

Homes that regulate themselves?

Imagine a material that passively absorbs excess heat during the day and releases it back into the home when temperatures drop at night, with no switches, no electricity and no noise. That’s the magic of phase change materials, a type of smart material. They are made from materials such as waxes, salts, fatty acids and plant-based oils, and come in the form of thin panels, microcapsules, and liquid-filled pouches.

These materials absorb heat as they melt and release it again when they solidify, acting like a thermal battery embedded in your roof tiles or walls. A thermal battery stores energy in the form of heat instead of electricity. This means your home can “charge” with heat when it’s warm and “discharge” that heat when it’s cool.

In summer, phase change materials absorb indoor heat during the day, which keeps living spaces cooler. At night, as outdoor temperatures drop, they release that stored heat. In winter, it’s the opposite.

Phase change materials can offer even greater thermal mass than traditional materials like brick, stone or concrete. And studies show they can reduce average building energy use by around 37% across various Australian cities.

But they do have a limitation under extreme or prolonged heat. If overnight temperatures remain high – as often happens during multi-day heatwaves – the material may not cool down enough to solidify. Once fully melted, it can no longer absorb heat, making it temporarily ineffective.

Reflective coatings

Like slipping on sunglasses on a sunny day, reflective coatings shield homes from the sun’s harsh rays. When applied to rooftops, they can lower indoor temperatures by up to 4°C. This means less reliance on air conditioning and lower energy bills – a simple, cost-effective way to beat the heat.

But there’s a catch: what works brilliantly in summer can backfire in winter. These reflective surfaces also bounce away the warmth you want during colder months. And instead of absorbing heat, your home gets chillier.

To build homes for a warming world, we need solutions for all seasons – smart materials that respond to their environment by blocking heat when it’s hot, and absorbing it when it’s cold.

The future is adaptive

Our homes need layered strategies. Imagine a roof that not only reflects intense summer heat but also works with phase change materials to absorb and regulate indoor temperatures year round.

In a recent study, led by this article’s lead author, Md Jaynul Abden, reflective roof coatings combined with phase change materials embedded in roof tiles and gypsum board were found to significantly improve home performance during simulated Australian heatwaves.

The results were striking: indoor temperatures dropped by 7.9–9.7 °C across cities, and energy savings reached up to 80.6%. Most importantly, indoor environments remained significantly more comfortable. This is a critical benefit during heatwaves, especially for vulnerable communities without air-conditioning.

By carefully balancing the reflection and absorption of materials, we can ensure they perform optimally. These solutions aren’t mainstream yet, but as heatwaves intensify and the demand for energy efficiency grows, adaptive roofing systems are likely to become common in new builds and retrofits within the next decade.

Md Jaynul Abden, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Western Sydney University and Jannatul Dil Afroze, Researcher in the School of Engineering, Design and Built Environment, Western Sydney University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Urban butterflies are declining at alarming rates around the world (Photo: David Clode / Unsplash)

By Bethany Kiss, Mark Jacques and Sarah Bekessy – RMIT University

Native animals can make excellent neighbours. Blue banded bees pollinate our vegetable gardens. Microbats eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes a night and powerful owls keep rodents at bay. But could we go one step further, and change our homes to invite native animals in as housemates?

Cities are biodiversity hotspots and have an important role in tackling the extinction crises for animals, plants and insects. As cities continue to sprawl, our buildings have become increasingly important habitat for wildlife.

Animals are not the only ones to benefit. Evidence shows noticing wildlife at home can lead to better mental health. Co-habitating with wildlife can also help you feel more at home.

But how can we intentionally design our homes to co-inhabit with wildlife? That’s the question explored by When Wildlife Moves In, a new work at the National Gallery of Victoria. The work, created by the authors of this article, uses data from Wildlife Victoria to explore how homes can become shared ecological resources.

Here are eight easy ways to invite wildlife into your home and backyard.

1. Give butterflies a drink from your air con

Urban butterflies are declining at alarming rates around the world. At the same time, water dripping from air conditioners wastes millions of litres of clean water daily. Studies show this water is safe to reuse for nature.

Butterflies, for example, like to sip water from shallow water sources because they tend to get stuck in deeper water.

Solution? Leave an area of gravel beneath your air conditioner vent to create a “puddling” station for butterflies. This will transform what would otherwise go down our drains into habitat for a beloved pollinator.

2. Provide city birds with scarce nesting material

Leave natural materials such as twigs in your backyard for bird nests. (Photo credit: Jon Sailer/Unsplash)

The scarcity of natural nesting materials in cities poses challenges for some animals. Many are forced to get creative – sometimes incorporating dangerous or lethal alternatives such as plastics into their nests.

Solution? Leave a bowl out in your backyard providing nesting materials such as lawn clippings, native grasses, bark strips and untreated hair. This will help native birds such as the Australian magpie and the Pied Butcherbird.

3. Move indoor plants away from windows

Glass doors and windows are a serious threat to birds. (Photo by Laura Lauch / Unsplash)

In the United States alone, as many as a billion birds each year are killed or badly injured flying into glass.

Solution? Move indoor plants out of view through windows and doors so birds don’t mistake them for habitat. Or put anti-collision stickers on your windows, ensuring they are high contrast in colour and spaced no more than 5–10 cm apart.

4. Remove the concrete from your backyard

Wombats will make burrows under verandahs and homes. (Photo: David Clode/Unsplash)

Concrete slabs destroy soil microorganisms and prevent animals from digging and tunnelling to create nesting sites.

Wombats are ecosystem engineers. Their burrowing aerates soil, improves water infiltration and cycles organic material and nutrients. But urban development fragments their habitat and concrete foundations seal off natural soil ecosystems. When this happens, wombats adapt by creating alternative burrow systems under houses, decks and other human structures.

Solution? Remove the concrete slabs from your backyard and leave open soil with vegetation or a raised deck in its place.

5. Leave the cavities in your houses unsealed

A microbat happily ensconsed in a safe crevice in a roof cavity (Photo: Nils Bouillard / Unsplash)

Natural tree hollows are disappearing at an alarming rate due to urban sprawl and tree removals. It has forced microbats and other hollow-dependent species to seek refuge in dark spaces in our buildings, such as wall cavities, roof voids and building crevices.

Solution? Let the bats continue living in your building cavities. If you are bothered by them, wait until they leave, then provide a bat nesting box so they can safely continue living.

6. Plant the ‘missing’ layer birds need

Superb fairy wrens need understory to move about safely (Photo: Enguerrand Photography / Unsplash)

Australian cities are missing a crucial habitat layer — the “middle storey” between ground cover and tall trees. This gap in coverage allows aggressive species such as noisy miners to dominate, pushing out smaller native birds and threatening endangered species.

Solution? Plant more shrubs and bushes to create a bushy layer of 2-4 metres. This helps smaller birds such as Superb Fairy-wrens find places to hide. It’s also useful to include habitat elements such as log piles and rocks.

7. Keep your cats inside

Every free-roaming cat is a threat to wildlife. (Photo: Anaí Chew / Unsplash)

Feral and free-roaming cats collectively kill more than three billion animals a year in Australia.

Cats have played a leading role in most of Australia’s 34 mammal extinctions since 1788, and are a big reason why populations of at least 123 other threatened native species are declining.

Solution? “Catios”, or cat patios, allow cats to experience nature but keep wildlife safe from predators.

8. Build a frog sauna

A DIY frog sauna helps frogs avoid the deadly chytrid fungus (Photo: Anthony Waddle)

Some of the best wildlife-friendly ideas are surprisingly simple. Frog saunas, for instance, are small structures with frog-sized holes, made from black bricks or similar materials that heat up in the sun. These structures help fight chytrid fungus, a devastating disease that’s pushing many Australian frog species toward extinction.

Chytrid thrives in cold conditions but dies in heat, making these warm refuges potentially life-saving for local amphibians. Instructions for building your own frog sauna are free, requiring little more than recycled materials and a sunny spot in your garden.

A shared future

Australian cities are important for conserving biodiversity – and our homes can help. Thoughtful, intentional design can better support the species that need our support.

If you want to find ways to co-habitate with native wildlife, click here for more solutions.

When Wildlife Moves In is part of the exhibition Making Good: Redesigning the Everyday, showing at the NGV Ian Potter Gallery. The exhibition explores how designers are reshaping the products and systems that shape our daily lives.

About the authors

Bethany Kiss, PhD Candidate, RMIT University; Mark Jacques, Professor of Architecture, RMIT University. Director, Openwork Pty Ltd., and Sarah Bekessy, Professor in Sustainability and Urban Planning, Leader, Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group (ICON Science), RMIT University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Blue Mountains residents were invited to Springwood to consult and suggest ideas for a Community Climate Risk and Adaptation Plan (Photo: Gabiann Marin)

Story by Gabiann Marin

Recently I attended a consultation day with Blue Mountains City Council to discuss a new Community Climate Risk and Adaptation Plan and the ways in which it could be implemented. I went as a resident and someone concerned about the future we are leaving on this planet, and a strong believer in the power of local change to have global effects. What transpired renewed my belief in our community, our council and our shared future.

Key Points:

• Blue Mountains City Council has held several consultations with the local community to get feedback and ideas for a Community Climate Risk and Adaptation Plan.

• The consultation day in Springwood was open to all residents and resulted in an array of ideas, talking points and connections from all involved.

The event room at Springwood Sports Club was filled with chatter as people from all over the Mountains came together to help plan and discuss pathways towards building a more resilient future for us all. Even as someone who has experienced how much the community cares about our natural environment and a positive future in the face of climate change, I was surprised to find so many people, of diverse backgrounds and opinions, heeding the call put out by the Council to help them create a feasible and effective climate risk assessment and adaptation plan.

That so many people were willing to give up their Saturday was inspiring, but more was yet to come as each small round table erupted into excited discussion when the facilitator of the day presented questions and prompts for workable solutions and community involvement.  This was no top-down information sharing – it was a fully interactive space which had been designed for open and positive exchange of ideas and insights. 

Scattered around the room on four large tables were markers, pens, stickers and reams of butchers paper for the groups to note down thoughts and ideas. The session was presented by Alex Dudley, climate and resilience analytics specialist and senior project manager at Resilient Co., an emergency management and climate resilience consultation agency which has facilitated similar groups across local government areas in Victoria and NSW. This, she told us, was the first time she had presented a version of the immersive consultation style event in the Blue Mountains.

“I’m so impressed by how positive and proactive everyone here is,” Alex remarked as the participants all moved around the room, adding suggestions for environmental, economic, social and cultural approaches to creating a more resilient local area.

Alex Dudley, Senior Project Manager for Resilience Co. led the interactive workshops (Photo: A. Dudley)

The positivity was helped by the process of the day itself – which started with the most important question of all. What do you love about living in the Blue Mountains? Answers ranged between the sense of community, access to nature and the relief of getting out of the frantic pace of the bigger towns and cities like Penrith and Sydney.

What came up repeatedly was that the national park, its environment and the animals which make it their home, are an important and valuable benefit of living in this unique part of the world. Everyone there had some sense of the need to protect and conserve that.

By starting the day here, everyone was settled into a strongly positive mindset, clear about what it is that they wanted to conserve, save or protect and this meant that the interactions were mostly proactive and positive. Of course, at an event that is in response to an unfolding climate emergency, in a place which often bears the brunt of bushfires, landslides and other natural disasters, there had to be talk about the environmental threats and the concerns we held for our homes and the land in which we lived.

Identifying these threats was done as an interactive exercise with each group looking at different aspects of the community and the landscape and discussing what were the biggest problems going forward. It could have derailed there, I have often seen that happen, but it didn’t. Whether it was due to excellent facilitation, or just the mindset of the people who attended, each problem was approached pragmatically.

There was no denial of the issues but there was a lack of cynicism and doomsaying that often accompanies such activities. The problems, although significant, were framed in a way that was solution-based. And that is what set this day apart from so many climate change events which I have attended.

The groups quickly moved onto solutions and suggestions to help the community to adapt in the face of increasing natural disasters in the next 10 years: a proposal that may seem quite ambitious but is showing some results within the overall progress that the council members and staff have already put in place.

BMCC’s Community Climate Risk and Adaptation Plan

The Community Climate Risk and Adaptation Plan has been developed over a series of consultations with experts, local government representatives and community and will include a prioritised list of actions designed to adapt and respond to climate risks. 

The development of this Plan was identified as a priority action in Council’s Towards Net Zero Plan 2024.

This plan, released as a document in 2024, is summed up in seven key approaches:

1. Reach net zero emissions in a way that is just, fair and doesn’t leave anyone behind.

2. Support each other to lower emissions by promoting connectedness and resilience.

3. Increase health and wellbeing by reducing polluting emissions and strengthening community.

4. Prioritise initiatives that reduce emissions as well as reduce costs for residents.

5. Honour the wisdom of First Nations People in Caring for Country.

6. Seek opportunities for emissions reduction projects to grow the local economy.

7. Embed a circular economy by focusing on avoid, reuse, recycle – and landfill as a last resort.

These goals share a defined connection – the importance of the community as a key stakeholder in the entire process. This is not something anyone can achieve alone and the council seems very aware of the importance of actively and continuously offering real opportunities for all of us to have a say, get involved and lend our knowledge, expertise and experience to the overall process.

Blue Mountains City Council’s Towards Net Zero plan has a mid-term goal of 45% carbon emission reduction by 2030

One Blue Mountains resident summed up the feeling when he remarked, “We can’t just leave this to council, and then whinge because we aren’t getting what we want; we all need to be working together.”  This comment was greeted with a surprising round of agreement. Everyone in that room was aware that we shared responsibility for the local area we lived in.

I am constantly reminded of how much knowledge and expertise there is within our community. People here have withstood catastrophic bushfires, have invested their own resources into bush care, land management and wildlife preservation and protection. They have fostered strong community connections and value resilience and cooperation within the villages in which they live, as well as with the local government that oversees the services they need.

As a storyteller for the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative, I have been blessed to hear the stories of so many over the years who are making small and large differences. Yet in this room something close to alchemy was occurring. Those individual experiences and ideas were coming together to create innovative and feasible solutions and approaches to creating a world we all want to live in.

Participants discuss proactive solutions and ideas at the community event (Photo: BMCC, used with permission)

Sitting at my table was Lyn, a member of Resilient Blue Mountains which is a small community-led initiative working to unite different community and environmental groups to create change across the sometimes disconnected villages of the Upper and Lower Mountains.

The recent Sustainability Festival was just one of the great projects they have created. We also had a seasoned RFS volunteer and SES coordinator who understood the challenges and logistics of clear and present climate dangers and was able to inform our response with constructive first-hand information. Sitting on my other side was a community member interested in solar energy options, one of many throughout the room who were keen to engage with renewables but were unsure how best to approach the changeover.

Throughout the room people with engineering, animal welfare, bush regeneration, public relations, administration and community advocacy experience were able to share their insights, along with those who had interest and ideas but often lacked the platforms or opportunities to discuss their concerns or potential solutions.

Community-led solutions

By the end of the day there were five huge posters full of proactive ideas to address a variety of problems, from feral and invasive species to bushfire resilience to emission reductions, to community advocacy.

Some of my favourite ideas were also the least expected. Jeni, a first-time participant suggested changing the name of the Great Western Highway as it travels through the Blue Mountains to the Great Mountains Road – subtly changing the attitudes of those who crossed the Mountain to one of understanding and respect for this unique natural environment. This led to a greater discussion about better public transport and less reliance on cars and fossil fuels for getting around. 

Another great suggestion was a community advisory board set up as a continuous and open way for Council to get community feedback and ideas.  Others suggested more cooperation across other LGAs to help spread good ideas and initiatives beyond the fringes of the national parks, sharing ideas and learning from Lithgow, Penrith and greater Sydney shires. 

Connecting all the different organisations and community groups was another well-regarded suggestion. Renewable energy was perhaps the most popular discussion point, with communities wanting a shift from simple individual solar conversions to introduction of community solar batteries and solar gardens to help share solar across communities rather than focussing on individual households, something that the Council has already begun to explore with its Community Solar and Batteries project.

Similar community-based composting and waste ideas were also shared and widely embraced. Support for better home insulation, pumped water systems and more education and oversight on the use of pesticides and herbicides were also key talking points.

Solar sharing was a popular discussion topic on the day (Illustration: Creative Commons)

By the end of the day everyone felt heard and the suggestions, concerns and ideas were all carefully recorded to incorporate into the next stages of planning, not just for the Community Climate Risk and Adaptation Plan but for myriad council and community initiatives.

The positive vibe and important connections made on the day continue to play out. Resilient Blue Mountains has upped its volunteer drive and has welcomed a number of new interested members, while many of the participants continued the conversations with those they met on the day, potentially resulting in some innovative and accessible events, groups and implementation of some of the smaller more feasible community ideas.

The event followed on from previous consultations held throughout 2023 and 2024 (Photo: BMCC)

Take Action:

• Resilient Blue Mountains are actively looking for volunteers and are interested in any ideas or projects which it can help facilitate. You can contact them here: Resilient Blue Mountains

• If you want to know more about the BMCC Community towards Net Zero Plan you can access their 2024 document here >

• Visit the BMCC Sustainability and Resilience Hub: a great place to find out about resources, local organisations, local initiatives or add your ideas. You can find out more here: Sustainability and resilience hub

The ‘Laying In’ process at the Recompose funeral home in Seattle (Image: supplied)

“Every body can help the planet” is the tagline of Earthly Remains, a not-for-profit organisation set up to advocate for human composting as a more sustainable death care option in Australia.  At a recent meeting of Rotarians 4 Planetary Health, at the Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba, Rotarian Faye Woodward gave a fascinating presentation about a live petition before the NSW Parliament which is asking the NSW Government to recognise and regulate human composting, also called natural organic reduction or terramation, as a sustainable end-of life-option.

Key Points:

• Human composting transforms a deceased body into nutrient-rich soil, which offers a more environmentally conscious alternative to traditional death care practices. 

• Human composting is increasingly being legalised around the world. If you’d like to see this option available in NSW you can now sign a live petition to the NSW Parliament here: LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY – Signing ePetition – Recognise and regulate Human Composting as a death care option

• The first human composting facility has been operating in Seattle since 2020.

According to Faye, human composting is already legal in 14 states in the US, and in Germany. Recompose, the first human composting facility in the world, is in Seattle and has been operating since 2020. Recompose is part of a global movement of organisations working to advocate for climate healing, soil health and environmental justice. They offer virtual tours of their facility to anyone who would like to find out more. 

There is growing public support for alternatives to traditional death care practices, that can allow people to help the planet after they die. Cremation pollutes our air and there is a shortage of land for burial. 

What is Human Composting?

Human composting transforms a deceased body into nutrient-rich soil, which offers a more environmentally conscious alternative. The body is wrapped in biodegradable material and placed into a specially designed vessel filled with wood chips, alfalfa and straw. Over several weeks, naturally occurring microbes and beneficial bacteria break down the body, turning it into around 100kg of nutrient-rich soil.  This soil can be used to nourish plants, gardens and natural landscapes. The process mimics the natural decomposition that occurs in the soil but accelerates it in a controlled environment.

Faye, who is also a local funeral director and celebrant based in Katoomba, joined the funeral industry so that she could advocate for change from ‘inside the tent’. With a background as an environmental scientist, Faye is keen to offer her clients more sustainable death care options. 

Faye has connected with others through both the Australia-wide Natural Death Care Advocacy Network and local Blue Mountains Group, Eco Rest, and is part of the growing movement to establish a regulatory framework in NSW to ensure human composting can be both legally recognised and safely implemented.

Faye Woodward, Funeral Director and Celebrant at Linchpin Funerals (Image: supplied)

“Human composting is more than just an alternative to burial or cremation – it’s a statement of values and a commitment to planetary health,” says Faye. “By choosing this body disposal method, people can leave a legacy of environmental care for future generations. As human composting gains momentum, it offers a transformative vision for how we can honour life, even in death, and create a legacy of love, sustainability and renewal.”

Take Action:

• Sign the NSW Petition and circulate to others in your network!: Sign ePetition – Recognise and regulate Human Composting as a death care option

• Join a free virtual tour of the world’s first human composting facility: Tour Our Human Composting Facility | Recompose

• Join Eco Rest – Blue Mountains, Exploring Death Matters: Eco Rest – Blue Mountains

Kindlehill students learn how to reduce erosion at the Planetary Health Centre: view the video here

There is a little bit of magic happening on Wednesdays at the Planetary Health Centre as young volunteers from Kindlehill School, and Council staff, work together to create a demonstration site for the wider community. This hands-on program is inspiring all involved, including teacher Sarah Daniel. In her reflection on their Bushcare session, reprinted here, she was reminded of Arundhati Roy’s words that ‘another world is not only possible, she is on her way.’

Key Points:

• The Planetary Health Centre provides a diverse learning and volunteer program for the whole community, including an evolving demonstration site.

• From Bushcare to learning how to fireproof our homes and communities, and stop the erosion caused by stormwater, the Centre is showcasing how we can reduce the risk of disaster and restore the health of our planet for all species.

• Visit the Blue Mountains Planetary Health website at bluemountainsplanetaryhealth.com.au to learn more.

Sarah Daniel’s Reflection:

Last week year 9-10 started our practical project volunteering for the Planetary Health Initiative as part of our geography unit on climate change. When I started thinking of this unit, I admit I felt a bit tentative. The response in myself to the thought of climate change brings up feeling of overwhelm and fear, and this is not something that I want to cultivate in young people!

Working with the Planetary Health Initiative seemed like a good way to embed practical action on earth care and climate action into the work we are doing, to shift the conversation away from what seems impossible to what we tangibly can do.

Kindlehill students participating in Bushcare at the Planetary Health Centre

When we arrived, Lis Bastian shared an anecdote about the Bradley Method (the most common method of Bushcare used in Australia today). She shared this in guiding us with what we were doing, but also as a metaphor for our own lives. Michael Meade says we need metaphors to hang our heart on. This will be one for me!

The Bradley method was started by two sisters from Northern Sydney who were regenerating the bush around their home. The first principle is, rather than starting in the most disrupted, weedy and tangled places, look for the most beautiful and healthy. It could be around the base of a tree, or a crop of native grasses, or a flowering plant. Find that spot and begin slowly working outward.

Just like when we are looking into the world currently, perhaps in our personal lives when things are tough and tangled, or at the bigger picture with the multi-crises of our times, we ask ourselves: where is the beauty, the healthy, the place that is intact? This is the place we begin, slowly making our way out. Hearing this made so much sense to me. We have to begin with what we can manage, with something that lights us up, that gives us hope.

Lis pointed out a Native Elderberry. This plant, she said, would be a great place to begin. Each privet weeded out, meant that this plant had a chance to grow tall and strongly rooted, and as a pioneer plant, regenerating the land around it. The Native Elderberry, Lis explained, has a symbiotic relationship with the Elderberry Leaf Roller, a little moth that depends almost entirely on this plant to house its young as they grow.

The Elderberry Panax Leaf Roller is a moth whose larvae feed on the leaves of the native Elderberry Panax. These caterpillars create shelters by webbing leaves together and feeding on the foliage.

As we cleared the privet out from around it, I thought about the ripples that would come from this small action. The pollination that the moths would do; the bats, birds and frogs that would feed on it; the seeds of the native plant that would be spread to restore land instead of the privet. I could see widening circles of health rippling out, regenerating the ecosystem and therefore, restoring the soil, water, air and finally, the dance of climate.

Removing weed to allow the Elderberry Panax to thrive at the Planetary Health Centre

I could see that as the young people weeded, and pulled, that perhaps they thought that it was a very small act. Even insignificant. But the truth is, that if we all do something small every day, we make change. We pulled out around 250 privet plants, making space for lomandra, elderberry, native grasses. We made space for restoration, for the healing of our world.

Two of the students with one of the 250 privets the group removed.

I feel different now when I think about teaching about climate change. I am excited, full of the deep-seated knowledge of WHAT IS POSSIBLE! We have everything we need, the knowledge, the skills, the technology, the imagination, the loving communities, and incredible Earth and her living communities.

Arundhati Roy says, “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” In this moment so can I.

Sarah Daniel, Kindlehill School

Last term the students helped fireproof the Centre by replacing vegetation adjacent to the building with gravel.

The finished work

In their second session this term, the students worked with Council’s Environment team to stop erosion on a slope using natural materials. This technique slows stormwater flows, builds soil and reduces water pollution downstream. Learn more here:

Take Action:

• Visit the Planetary Health Centre’s demonstration site to learn how to reduce disaster risk.

• Join the Planetary Health Bushcare group on the first Saturday of every month to learn more about how to regenerate bushland and to contribute to the restoration of the Planetary Health site. Contact Karen Hising (Bushcare Officer) via email at khising@bmcc.nsw.gov.au or call the Bushcare Office on 4780 5623.

• Contact the Centre to arrange a group or school visit: planetaryhealth@bmcc.nsw.gov.au or ring 0407 437 553.

Briquettes made from sawdust at Against The Grain (Photo: Saskia Everingham)

When Dave Spees began making timber windows and doors out of his garage in 2006, he didn’t expect sawdust to become one of his biggest problems – or his most innovative solution.

Nearly two decades later, the Katoomba-based carpenter and founder of Against the Grain has turned the by-product of his craft into a sustainable, sought-after winter fuel. His compressed sawdust briquettes are now helping to heat homes across the Blue Mountains, all while dramatically reducing landfill waste.

Key Points:

• Dave Spees transformed his carpentry business’s sawdust waste problem into a sustainable heating solution by creating compressed briquettes for Blue Mountains residents.

• After initial challenges with a small press, a $200,000 German Weima machine now produces high-quality briquettes using only hydraulic pressure and premium timber sawdust.

• The briquettes have become a popular winter fuel staple, with up to 40 tonnes stored annually and strong demand from local residents.

From Craftsmanship to Climate-Conscious Innovation

Spees, a long-time Mountains local who grew up in Springwood, has spent his life working with timber: first as a carpenter and joiner, then as a bespoke window maker. By 2009 his window-making business had taken off, as had his production of sawdust.

“We were filling 10 to 12 industrial bins of sawdust every month,” Spears recalls. “It was becoming a serious stress. It didn’t feel right to just keep dumping it into landfill.”

That waste stream eventually led him overseas, where a trade expo in Germany opened his eyes to how European manufacturers were compressing sawdust into heating briquettes. In fact, they were using the briquettes to heat the factories. Nothing, he noticed, was going to waste.

Dave Spees (Photo: Saskia Everingham)

A Machine with Muscle

Back home, Spees invested in a small German briquette press and reworked his factory’s dust extraction system to feed it. But early versions of the briquettes – small, soft discs – weren’t quite hitting the mark.

“People liked the idea, but not the product,” he says. “They’d fall apart too easily, especially in fireplaces. We solved our dust problem, but we hadn’t cracked the briquette.”

After a few years of trial and error, Spees applied for a NSW Bin Trim grant, a government initiative aimed at managing commercial waste. The grant allowed him to purchase a high-capacity $200,000 Weima press – far more powerful and sophisticated than his first.

It was a risk, especially for a small family business. But the investment paid off.

Vacuum chutes collecting sawdust to send to the press. (Photo: Saskia Everingham)

Collected sawdust fed into the press. (Photo: Saskia Everingham)

Briquettes fresh from the press dropping into the container (Photo: Saskia Everingham)

The new press creates dense, high-performance briquettes using only hydraulic pressure – no glue, no additives. It has an 800mm diameter pipe that sucks the dust from each workbench into a huge external hopper, from which the briquettes are then compressed.

The external hopper (Photo: Saskia Everingham)

The mix includes offcuts of premium Australian hardwoods and imported timbers like rosewood, cedar and blackbutt – leftovers from Spees’ custom window and door work.

“They’re dry, clean-burning, and incredibly efficient,” he says. “People are often surprised by how much heat they generate.”

The briquettes for sale at Against The Grain’s Katoomba showroom (Photo: Saskia Everingham)

From Waste to Winter Warmth

The briquettes are now a staple for many Blue Mountains residents, especially older locals who can no longer split firewood. Spees stores up to 40 tonnes each summer in preparation for winter, when demand surges.

“We have regulars who come in with boxes to fill up,” he says. “It’s all self-serve. We don’t really advertise anymore – word’s spread.”

So much so that during especially cold or wet seasons, the briquettes have occasionally sold out. In those cases, Spees and his team keep a waiting list, prioritising vulnerable or elderly customers.

The sawdust comes from a wide range of timber sources, and balancing the composition to keep the press running smoothly remains an ongoing challenge.

“One minute we’re machining soft pine, the next it’s dense ironbark,” Spees explains. “That can jam the machine if we’re not careful. It’s taken years to get the settings right, but the support from Weima’s team in Germany has been incredible.”

Designing for the Fire

The story comes full circle in Spees’ own Leura home, which he designed around a fireplace with hydronic radiators – a nod to European efficiency.

“I always wanted to be able to heat my own home with the material we produce,” he says. “And now I can. We’re not just keeping warm, we’re closing the loop.”

The project exemplifies how sustainable thinking, paired with craftsmanship and persistence, can reshape an industry from the inside out.

From discarded sawdust to winter staple, Spees’ briquettes are more than just an alternative fuel: they’re a local blueprint for what small businesses can do when sustainability becomes part of the design.

Against the Grain also supplies boxes of kindling (Photo: Saskia Everingham)

Interested in trying the briquettes?

Against the Grain offers self-serve pickup from their factory at Unit 24-26, Megalong St, Katoomba. Supplies are limited in winter: best to bring your own box and get in early!

(Photo: Saskia Everingham)

Wentworth Falls Food Hall owner, Sereen Dirani with Rotary member, Allan Byrnes. (Photo: Viv Byrnes)

As challenges mount globally there is one group of community builders who, for 120 years now, have been strengthening the world’s social fabric and addressing ways civil society can help alleviate suffering and inequality; improve people’s quality of life; and create a more peaceful, healthier planet: whether it’s working to eliminate polio, providing Shelter Boxes to house families after disasters, developing Mental Health First Aid programs or providing Community Defibrillators, like the one recently installed outside the Food Hall supermarket in Wentworth Falls.

Key Points:

• Sudden cardiac arrest is Australia’s biggest cause of death and disability.

• Immediate CPR and defibrillation in the first few minutes may reverse a sudden cardiac arrest to save a person’s life.

• The Heart 180 Community Defib Program has partnered with Rotary in the Blue Mountains to provide public and accessible defibrillators to save lives.

Our communities are dotted with programs and infrastructure, funded and supported in other ways, by Rotary volunteers.

With clubs in over 220 countries and geographical areas, Rotary has created an evolving global network of people bridging political, religious and social divides and committed to uniting for the common good – something the world has never needed more!

Community Defibrillators Saving Lives: Chris Djekic explaining how to use Community Defibrillators at a Rotary meeting in Wentworth Falls

Since the middle of World War ll, Rotarians have been guided by a nonpartisan, nonreligious ethical guide called the Four-Way Test. It asks four questions: “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?”. 

On the 27 July 2025, the Planetary Health Centre hosted the launch of the world’s newest Rotary Club: Greater Blue Mountains Rotary. It’s a world-first collaborative club aiming to operate with more flexibility and less administration using a ‘hub and spoke’ model.

Greater Blue Mountains Rotary Launch at the Planetary Health Centre

Bringing together the expertise and resources of the former Blackheath, Katoomba and Central Blue Mountains Clubs, Greater Blue Mountains Rotary will act as a hub with a range of localised ‘spokes’ or special interest groups to offer more ways for the community to engage.

L to R: Rotary International Director, Jennifer Scott AM, Katoomba Rotarian Faye Woodward, Club President Barry Taylor and Michele Ellery, Rotary District Governor. (Supplied by Rotary)

The first community service project of this new Rotary Hub is to fundraise to provide rooming-in cribs for the maternity ward at Blue Mountains District Memorial Hospital.

“The Koorana Maternity Unit is the only maternity service between Penrith and Lithgow providing comprehensive antenatal, birthing and postnatal services. The hospital has four modern birthing suites, built in 2005. Our aim is to provide four Rooming-in cribs at a cost of $3000 each. They are a new design with a drop-down side, giving the mother easy bedside access to her baby,” said Barry Taylor, president of the new club. “This creates a natural and intimate maternal bonding experience and allows safe transfer of the baby, which doesn’t need to be lifted from the crib to be given to the mother.”

Rotarians have also been working with the Planetary Health Centre to offer learning programs like the monthly Fashion Upcycling program on Skill Share Saturdays. If you’d like to get involved contact Lis on 0407 437 553 or email planetaryhealth@bmcc.nsw.gov.au .

Take Action:

• If you’d like to find out more, make a donation or join Rotary contact Barry Taylor on 0448 812 359.

• Do a CPR Course to help save lives.

• Become a GoodSAM volunteer and receive alerts to help in nearby CPR emergencies while the paramedics are on the way. Learn more here: https://www.goodsamapp.org/

The blast from the 1954 nuclear weapons test on Bikini Atoll (Image: Public Domain; US Dept of Energy)

On the 80^th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the Planetary Health Initiative and the Blue Mountains Peace Collective hosted a Peace Symposium and Community Picnic to provide pathways for everyone to take steps for a more peaceful future. The event kicked off ICAN’s Week of Action for the Abolition [of Nuclear Weapons] and everyone was asked to send a message to the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to urge them to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in this term. You can add your voice to this urgent call here

Key Points:

• Nuclear Abolition Campaign: The symposium marked the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, urging Australia to sign the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons through ICAN’s Week of Action.

• Community-wide Peace Building: Over 130 participants heard diverse speakers emphasising that peace requires whole-of-community engagement, from addressing local social injustice to international diplomacy.

• Key presenters included Japanese journalist Harumi Hayakawa, Quaker Rosemary Morrow, Rotarian Jennifer Scott, artist Matilda Emmerich, ICAN Ambassador Robert Tickner, Indonesian Ambassador Dr Siswo Pramono, MP Susan Templeman, and Mayor Mark Greenhill.

The Blue Mountains Peace Collective reflected on the inaugural Blue Mountains Peace Symposium and Community Picnic:

The foundations of sustainable peace must be built through a culture of peace in the minds and actions of people worldwide. As defined by the United Nations, the Culture of Peace is a “set of values, attitudes, modes of behaviour and ways of life that reject violence and prevent conflicts by tackling their root causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation among individuals, groups and nations” (UN Resolutions A/RES/52/13).

Real sustainable Peace is:
•    an end to violent conflict, 
•    an end to injustices, and 
•    a culture of peace. 

Peace is not something we achieve, peace must be worked for and practised daily, Dharug man, Chris Tobin, reminded the large audience gathered for the Blue Mountains Peace Symposium and Picnic. That Saturday, August 2^nd, truly was one of the coldest, wettest, most miserable days of winter, but Chris Tobin’s warm welcome and opening remarks set the tone for the symposium: peace is a whole of community need, the ‘business’ of all of us, at all times.

Chris Tobin’s opening address

The symposium was a collaboration of the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Initiative and the Blue Mountains Peace Collective, held at the Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba. The August 2^nd date was chosen to mark the 80^th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The symposium was thus part of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons’ (ICAN) Week of Action.

Harumi Hayakawa on Peace in Japan.

With the effects of nuclear weapons and the necessity for communities to promote, work on and embrace peace in everyday life both front of mind, it was fitting that the first speaker of the day was Japanese journalist Harumi Hayakawa. Harumi reminded us of the very great human cost of war; of why working for peace is so important.

Later, in the lunch break, she helped children and adults to make the origami cranes that remain a poignant symbol of the desire for life of Sadako Sasaki, a child victim of the Hiroshima bomb.

Harumi teaching participants how to make origami cranes during the Peace Picnic.

Following on from Harumi, Jennifer Scott stated: ‘Peace is not the absence of war, it is the absence of want.’ Jennifer is an active Rotarian for peace. Both internationally and locally, Rotary engages in promoting peace through on-the-ground work (building education, ameliorating poverty), by providing peace studies fellowships and much more.

Jennifer, who works in education in Cambodia, encouraged the audience in hope, in doing what we each can do to develop a world where social justice makes peace possible.

Rotary International Director, Jennifer Scott

Similarly, Rowe Morrow OAM, in a video presentation, spoke of the long and influential work of Quakers toward a fairer and more peaceful world, whether that be through protest (Quakers being early among the protestors at Pine Gap), international activism (Quakers have a UN presence, as does Rotary) or local community support work.

Rowe Morrow speaking on Quakers and Peace

Attendees at the symposium ranged in age (it was great to see some children there) and this, too, was reflected in the morning session presentations. There was history of past peace actions: a screening of the 1946 documentary, ‘Indonesia Calling’, which movingly portrayed Australian Waterside Workers unionists refusing, and convincing others to join them in refusing, to service Dutch ships in Australian ports post-war. These ships were transporting armaments with the aim of the Dutch regaining control of the recently independent Indonesian population: united, local action helped prevent that outcome.

Peace Collective member Bruce Cornwell described past successful protests, and discussed potential future actions. Emerging activists, too, stood up to be counted: Year 11 student, Matilda Emmerich, already an artist and poet, presented her work, Where Hope Sits, giving older activists hope for the future.

Artist Matilda Emmerich

There was more hope and pertinent comment in the performances of Ecopella and the Bearded Ladies community choirs, and in the lunchtime activities, for children and adults alike, in origami, badgemaking, book learning (local bookshop, RoseyRavelston) and in sharing picnic food from Bibi’s Kitchen.

Ecopella Community Choir

The afternoon session, chaired by Nick Franklin, emphasised the importance of formal, governmental promotion of peace, particularly in working to abolish nuclear weapons. Robert Tickner, Ambassador to ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), pointed to Australia having already supported the banning of land mines, cluster munitions and other weapons of war – and argued, eloquently, that it is time the Australian government took the next steps and signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). This signing, he suggested would also enable Australia to develop more independent foreign and strategic policies.

ICAN Ambassador, Robert Tickner’s presentation

Blue Mountains Mayor, Mark Greenhill, member of the international Mayors for Peace, a group originally founded in 1982 by the mayor of Hiroshima, recognised the need for community action – campaigns against family violence, for gender equality and diversity, for example – as the essential supports for viable peace.

Mayor Mark Greenhill’s presentation

Our local federal member, Susan Templeman, outlined the federal government’s activities and policies in relation to the promotion of peace, noting that the Labor Party was committed to the signing of the TPNW (but when, the audience asked? When?).

Susan Templeman’s presentation

The three Australian representatives were joined by H.E. Dr Siswo Pramono, Indonesian Ambassador to Australia: the Indonesian government having become, in 2024, one of the 94 signatories to TPNW. Dr Pramono spoke as an advocate for Australia’s signing of the treaty to abolish nuclear weapons ASAP.

Dr Siswo Pramono’s presentation

Well over a hundred people filled the audience seats at the symposium and their questions and comments were an essential part of the ongoing conversation throughout the day. Given current events, many comments concerned the unjustified and unjustifiable imposition of unbearable conflict on the people of Gaza. Actions were discussed – sanctions, pressure on Australian and international politicians and governments, protests, local supports and more.

Australia’s problematic commitment to AUKUS and nuclear submarines received several mentions, as it should. The cost of these submarines could fund so much for so many Australians – reminding us all, yet again, that a world that favours war over peace is a world in which humans suffer terribly in conflicts, and also unnecessarily through lack of service provision, when money is instead spent on weaponry that kills.

Fortunately, early on the day, the news came through that the March for Humanity would proceed across Sydney Harbour Bridge the following day. We expected it then, and know now, that the march was HUGE and the Blue Mountains was brilliantly represented.

In all, the Peace Symposium of August the 2^nd was a remarkable event. As Robert Tickner said, ‘today (was) absolutely inspirational’.

With many thanks to all who volunteered and participated,

… the Blue Mountains Peace Collective.

Take Action:

• Add your name to the ICAN Australia petition to the Australian Government to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons here

• Get involved with the actions of the Blue Mountains Peace Collective. Learn more here

• Subscribe to our newsletter to learn more about actions you can take and to hear about our upcoming events

Sal Isaksen, owner of SalOn in Katoomba, is also a sustainable stylist and wardrobe consultant.

Story and photos by Linda Moon and Steve Krinks

With 23 secondhand shops to explore, including funky vintage clothing stores and multiple op shops, Katoomba is a growing hub for the circular economy. This comprehensive guide explains what’s on offer where and how to donate your unwanted stuff to help tackle the waste problem.

Jump to a section:

1. Vintage Clothing Stores

2. Charity Op Shops

3. Vintage & Antique Shops

4. Free Stuff

5. Donating Sustainably

Vintage Clothing Stores

1. SalOn

Address: Town Centre Arcade, Shop 5, 81/83 Katoomba St, Katoomba NSW 2780

Open hours: Weds–Sat 10.30am-4pm, Sunday 10.30am – 2.30pm

Contact: 0414 568 068

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/vintagewithsal/

What’s in store

Upmarket, designer and vintage secondhand female clothing and accessories. Shoes, belts, jeans, dresses and more. Women love the bargain room of $10 and under. “They spend ages in there,” says owner, Sal Isaksen. Prices are considerably cheaper than equivalent shops in Sydney. Sal is also a wardrobe consultant and sustainable stylist. Hire her to help you declutter and restyle your wardrobe or join one of her workshops. 

Getting there: 

SalOn is located in the Katoomba Town Centre Arcade, half-way down Katoomba St on your right as you walk down the hill. It’s 5 minutes walk from the train station.

Can you trade in your secondhand goods here?

SalOn welcomes fashion items (they must be in perfect condition) from individuals in return for cash or a store credit. Bring your items in, Sal says, and she’ll select anything suitable. 

2. Yesterday Store

Address: 130 Katoomba St, Katoomba

Open hours: 7 days, 10am-4pm. 

Contact: hello@shopyesterdaystore.com

Website: shopyesterdaystore.com

Socials: www.instagram.com/yesterday.store/ 

What’s in store

High quality, secondhand, vintage men and women’s clothing, mostly from the sixties to nineties. Includes some deadstock (never worn). Overalls, coveralls, work wear, army wear, jeans, tops, jackets, jumpers and denim feature strongly in the racks. There’s also a selection of caps, hats and dresses. Prices range from $15 for a shirt to a leather jacket for $280. They also sell boro mending kits and promote the philosophy of extending the life of garments through re-use and repair. 

Getting there: 

Yesterday Store is on the main drag of Katoomba street about halfway down on the same side as the churches. 

Can you trade in your secondhand goods here?

Yesterday Store doesn’t take stock from the general public. 

3. Forever Friday

Address: 132a Katoomba St, Katoomba

Open hours: Thursday to Monday, 10am – 4pm (12pm – 4pm Sunday) 

Contact: 0411 959 474

Website: https://foreverfriday.com.au/

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/shop.forever.friday, https://www.facebook.com/shop.forever.friday

What’s in store

A newish arrival to the vintage clothing scene in Katoomba, Forever Friday has an ever-changing selection of funky vintage finds for women and men. Owner Rebecca is passionate about sustainability and reducing waste, and her fashion eye is finely honed when it comes to curating for the store. She also has a sustainable styling service under the moniker of Sustainable Fox.

Getting there: 

Forever Friday is next door to Yesterday Store, half way down Katoomba St, on your left as you descend the hill. 

4. Saint Joan

Address: 44 Lurline St, Katoomba

Open hours: Thursday to Saturday 10am – 4pm; Sunday 10am – 3pm

Contact: saintjoan.atelier@gmail.com

Website: https://www.studiosaintjoan.au/

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/saintjoan_____

What’s in store

The newest arrival on Katoomba’s vintage clothing scene, Saint Joan is located in a funky old building on Lurline St, parallel to Katoomba’s main street. The owner Charlotte describes it as the place to find curated vintage and slow fashion, predominantly for women but there’s a growing selection of vintage mens wear too.

Alongside a very fine range of vintage finds (with a focus on 60’s to 90’s clothing and quality fabrics using natural fibres) are the ‘slow fashion’ items – clothing and accessories hand-made by Charlotte and other small makers. These use vintage fabrics, upcycled into modern garments with a classic look. Recent hits in the current Katoomba winter include hot water bottle covers and vests made from upcycled woollen blankets.

There’s also a small selection of hand-made ceramics from local makers, and vintage homewares, jewellery, bags and shoes alongside hand-made beanies, scarves and socks.

In late September 2025, Charlotte plans to run workshops for people wanting to upskill in upcycling fabric and sewing – keep an eye on her socials to learn more.

Getting there

From Katoomba Street, turn down Church Lane (in between Katoomba Music and the Uniting Church) and follow it to Lurline Street. Turn right and Saint Joan is across the road on the corner of Leichhardt St. It’s a 10 minute walk from Katoomba Station.

5. DON Boutique

Address: 1/42 Katoomba St, Katoomba

Open hours: Friday to Sunday, 10am – 5pm

Contact: (02) 4787 9119

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/don.boutique.katoomba/, https://www.facebook.com/don.boutique.2024/

What’s in store

DON Boutique offers a solid selection of vintage women’s fashion alongside vintage collectibles, homewares, jewellery, as well as a selection of new giftware and other goodies.

Getting there

DON Boutique is near the top of Katoomba Street, opposite the Carrington Hotel. It’s upstairs, entered via a well marked doorway next to Katoomba Wines.

Charitable Op Shops

6. Salvos 

Address: 89 Katoomba St, Katoomba

Open hours: Mon-Sat 9am-5.30pm

Website: https://www.salvosstores.com.au/stores/nsw/2780-katoomba-8701

Contact: (02) 4782 2080

What’s in store: 

Laid out like an all-in-one shopping centre, you’ll find dedicated sections for men’s and women’s clothing and accessories, handbags, shoes, children’s clothing and toys. A back room houses furniture, mattresses, linen, manchester and other furnishings. Upstairs are homewares, books, DVDs, CDs, electrical items (all tagged and tested). Prices cater to all budgets. The ‘O’ By Salvos range, for instance, features designer brands and unusual, standout designs.

“It’s all about funky and original,” explains Luke, the store manager. Salvos actively try to keep prices reasonable. You can score a Calvin Klein shirt here for $10 or a Tommy Hilfiger jumper for $6. Today, the most expensive clothing item in the store is $20. Shopping here is roomy and enjoyable. The plush, spacious change-rooms include a wheelchair accessible one. A Christian organisation, profits help fund charitable services and activities.

Getting there: 

Salvos is half-way down Katoomba street, a few doors away from Anglicare. It’s a five minute stroll from the train station.

How to donate goods: 

Salvos prefers donations during business hours, taken through their front door, but will open the back door for larger items when required. Items must be in good saleable condition. Donated mattresses must be in perfect condition. Unlike many other thrift stores, they accept electricals. For large items call the shop. Salvos do furniture collections.

They don’t accept computer monitors, printers, scanners and other hardware, building materials, car parts, waterbeds, CRT TVs (the old tube style), paint or chemicals, pressurised gas bottles, weapons (including replicas) or taxidermy animals. 

7. Anglicare Op Shop

Address: 103 Katoomba Street 

Open Hours: Mon – Fri 9.30am-5pm; Sat 10am – 4pm; Sun 10.30am – 2.30pm

What’s in store: 

Pre-loved items including clothing and accessories, manchester, books, records, furniture, homewares, furniture, bric-a-brac and toys. The new change-rooms are as roomy as anything you’d find in a upmarket boutique, if not better. Profits go back into the community. For those struggling with food costs, there’s a Food Pantry. For $12 locals can fill a bag with basic food staples like cereals, pasta, rice, passatta, noodles and canned tomatoes. 

Getting there:

Anglicare is situated in the centre of the Katoomba street shopping strip, on the corner of Katoomba St and Pryor Place.

How to donate goods: 

Anglicare accepts a wide variety of quality goods. Generally speaking, they don’t accept electrical items or helmets. Bring items in while the shop is open. For bulk or large donations, there’s delivery access at the rear of the shop. 

8. Vinnies

Address: 65-67 Waratah St, Katoomba

Open hours: Mon – Sat 9am-5pm; Sun 10am-4pm

Contact: (02) 4782 1068

Website: www.vinnies.org.au/nsw/shops/katoomba

What’s in store: 

Secondhand clothing, shoes, fashion accessories, books, DVDs, CDs, magazines, toys, jewellery, knick-knacks, kitchenware, household items, linen, curtains, sporting goods, bags and more. Profits support charitable activities of the St Vincent de Paul Society. 

Getting there: 

At the bottom roundabout of the Katoomba Street shops, turn left into Waratah Street. Vinnies is next door to the Katoomba Veterinarian. 

How to donate goods: 

Drop off donations of quality items during business hours. You can also place donations in the donation bin round the corner. Avoid leaving goods outside the bins as any weather damage means they can’t be used and have to go to landfill. Vinnies Katoomba doesn’t accept computers, printers and scanners, furniture, electrical items and like other op shops, anything ripped, torn, stained, broken, cracked or unusable. For donated furniture pick-up requests, call 1800 606 724.

9. Cancer Wellness Support, Katoomba Op Shop

Address: 2/27 Whitton St, North Katoomba

Open hours: Mon – Fri 9.30am-4.30pm; Sat 9.30am-3pm

Contact: (02) 4782 6076 Email: katoombaopshop@cancersupport.org.au

Socials: https://www.facebook.com/cancerwellnesssupport, https://www.instagram.com/cancerwellnesssupport/

What’s in store: 

Second-hand furniture, clothing, shoes, books, CDs, homewares, kitchenware, electrical and white goods, art, vintage items, linen, bric-a-brac, luggage, camping gear and more. “We will sell virtually everything that’s not life endangering,” says manager, Deb Foster. Most clothing items are sold using a simple pricing structure: $5 for all tops, pants, jeans and shorts; $3 for t-shirts; $10 for winter jackets; $10 for all dresses regardless of label. Books are mostly a buck each.  “We keep prices low,” Deb says.

In 2023, the shop was awarded “clothing reuse expert accreditation” from Charitable Recycling Australia. 95 per cent of unsold stock is recycled. Strategies to reduce waste include a ‘free table’ and bagging stuff for overseas or the council recycling depot. Proceeds support local people living with cancer by subsidising complimentary therapies. A locals favourite, the Cancer Wellness Op Shop also won WSABE 2022 winner of Excellence in Social Enterprise. “We try to be community-oriented,” Deb says.

Getting there: 

Cancer Wellness Support is located in North Katoomba and has free car parking. While away from the main drag, it’s always bustling. 

How to donate goods: 

Bring them in before 4pm Monday to Friday or prior to 2pm on Saturday, but nothing faulty or unusable. “If you would buy it, it’s fine for donating,” Deb says. They offer furniture pick up and delivery every Tuesday and Wednesday (from Lawson to Mount Victoria).

10. Blue Mountains & District (BMD) Cat Welfare Op Shop 

Address: 114 Bathurst Rd Katoomba 

Open Hours: 7 days a week 10am-4pm

Contact: 0414 953 992 

Website: https://www.bmdcatwelfare.com.au/op-shop-bmd-cat-welfare-katoomba.html

Socials: https://www.facebook.com/bluemtscats/

What’s in store?

Well-priced clothing, art, shoes, books, DVDs, LPs, purses, jewellery, homewares, collectibles and bric-a-brac. Due to space limitations, the focus is on higher quality items, so it’s well worth a browse. The store relies totally on the work of volunteers. All sales go towards helping, desexing and rehoming abandoned or homeless cats in need, which also reduces their impact on the environment. 

Getting there: 

The BMD Cat Welfare Op Shop is across from the rail station and cab rank (on the shop side of Katoomba).

How to donate goods: 

Come in business hours. Avoid leaving goods on the doorstep. The shop particularly welcomes donations of cat food, litter trays and cat litter. It generally doesn’t accept electricals and can’t take large items. It also doesn’t take things with fur, knives or other dangerous items, second-hand underwear, socks, or swimwear, opened toiletries and cosmetics or discoloured or damaged books or videos.  

11. Cat Defence Network Charity Shop

Address: 71 Waratah Street Katoomba

Open hours: Depending on volunteers, usually 10am-3pm, 7 days a week

Contact: Email catdefence@gmail.com or speak with a volunteer in the shop

Website: https://www.catdefencenetwork.org.au/

What’s in store: 

Bargain price secondhand and new, unused donated goods marked well below retail price. From hand cream, perfume and hand towels to jewellery, dog and kids toys, you’re bound to find a treasure or more. There’s also ornaments, clothing, kitchenware, books, CDs, manchester and stationery. All profits go towards supporting CDN cats (mostly desexing and helping injured street cats). To get desexing assistance, call in at the shop. Or call and leave a message on 0434 165 355.

Getting there: 

At the bottom roundabout of the Katoomba Street shops, turn left into Waratah Street. Cat Defence is across the road just past Vinnies. 

How to donate goods: 

Bring donations in when the shop is open. A small shop, Cat Defence doesn’t accept or sell furniture, electricals and anything made of bone, fur or feathers. At the time of writing they were also not taking clothing. To avoid waste they will refer items to other shops and put out a ‘free box’ from time to time. 

12. Steven Walter Children’s Cancer Research Garden Cottage

Address: 58 Megalong St, Katoomba

Open hours: Wed – Fri 10am-3.30pm, Sat – Sun 10am – 2pm

Contact: (02) 4782 7591

What’s in store:

The main attraction is the sprawling outdoor area. It’s filled with interesting outdoor furniture including bargain outdoor settings, tables, pots, plants, garden art plus household furniture and more. The inside of the house is a warren of rooms housing secondhand furniture, homewares, knick-knacks, paintings, books, picture frames, CDs, DVDs, records, old lighting, kids stuff and more. 

Getting there: 

The Garden Cottage Warehouse is located within the industrial zone of Katoomba. From Lovel street, Katoomba (the street running along the train line between South Katoomba to Leura), turn left into Wilson street, then right into Megalong street before you hit Bunnings.   

How to donate goods: 

Bring them in during opening hours.

13. Sweet Charity Op Shop, Junction 142 

Address: 142 Katoomba St Katoomba

Open hours: Thur – Sat 10am-4pm

Contact: (02) 4782 7458

Website: https://www.junction142.org.au/sweet-charity-op-shop/

Socials: https://www.facebook.com/SweetCharityOpShopJ142

What’s in store:

Slightly higher end (they don’t stock Kmart and Woolworths brands, for instance) secondhand items including clothing, shoes, books, CDs, DVDs, homewares, knick-knacks and jewellery. The store occasionally receives donations of new, unused goods from excess stock or closing down shops. They recently rescued shoes from Thompsons (currently for sale) destined for the tip. Profits support services to locals in need, including free hampers, clothing, showers, laundry services and more. 

Getting there

An activity of Leura Uniting Church and the community, Sweet Charity Op Shop is located at the back of Katoomba Uniting Church.

How to donate goods: 

Sweet Charity Op Shop accepts donated items (except for electricals, kitchen ware, underwear, children’s clothing and toys). They’d love more jewellery and quality clothing fabrics (like linen and wool). Deliver items during opening hours. It’s possible to drive into the carpark.  Donations, including clothing needs to be decent and quality. No stains or holes. “We’re big on dignity here,” says store manager, Rachel Perkins.  

Vintage & Antique Stores

14. The Post Mistress Vintage

Address: 59-61 Katoomba St, Katoomba

Open hours: 7 days, 10am – 5pm

Contact: 0401 026 064

What’s in store

Across two huge levels, The Post Mistress Vintage is brimming with thousands of rare and unique items including industrial furniture, glassware, crystal, porcelain, ceramics, brassware, homewares, clocks, watches, jewellery, art works, clothing, lamps, lighting, mid-century to antique furniture, movie props, prints, curios and collectibles.

Previously known as Katoomba Vintage Emporium, it changed hands in early 2025 and has taken on a new lease of life under the curatorial eye of the fabulous Kitty, who has big plans for the space!

Getting there: 

The Post Mistress Vintage is near the top of Katoomba St, just up from the (still closed) Paragon Cafe. It’s a two minute walk from trains and buses.

15. Foraged & Forged

Address: 2/118 Katoomba St, Katoomba

Open hours: Fri / Sat / Sun 10am-4pm

Contact: 0405 531 414

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/foragedandforgedkatoomba/

What’s for sale

The ‘Foraged’ part of the name refers to both the vintage goodies and super cute hand-made toys (using foraged fabrics), and the ever-changing selection of home-made delicacies using foraged ingredients from the owner’s permaculture garden in North Katoomba – such as the fermented kiwifruit chilli sauce and apple cider vinegar that were on offer when we visited. Free range eggs make an appearance too.

‘Forged’ refers to the collection of hand-forged fire pokers, tools, kitchen utensils and other implements, also made locally by the owner’s partner in Katoomba.

There’s a small collection of vintage clothing on offer (with expansion planned in the near future), hand-sewn and felted items, antiques across multiple eras, and a curated selection of small maker stationery items, candles, toiletries and grooming products. The owner Amanda also plans to open a sewing space in Aug/Sep 2025, with drop-in sessions and workshops for those wanting to up their hand-sewing skills. Watch their socials for details.

In short, a varied and fun mix of old and new, tasteful and tasty!

Getting there: 

Foraged & Forged is located just off Katoomba St, down a short driveway next to Aunty Ed’s (if you’re a local!). It’s in ‘vintage central’, a cluster of vintage stores with Sal-On, Forever Friday, the Yesterday Store, The Salvos Store and Anglicare all a stone’s throw apart. You’ll find them half-way down Katoomba St, about 5 minutes walk from the train station and buses.

16. Future Relics Emporium

Address: 69 Lurline St, Katoomba

Open hours: Thursday to Sunday 11am – 5pm

Contact: 0406 907 050

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/relicsemporium/

What’s for sale

Fancy a dark ages broadsword, or perhaps a long handled battle axe, to accompany your vintage clothing purchase? You’re in the right place. Future Relics Emporium, on Lurline Street in Katoomba opposite Katoomba RSL, is a quirky vintage store with quite a few strings to its bow. It opened in May 2025.

In addition to vintage clothing, antiques, furniture and collectables, there’s a solid range of medieval armory and weaponry, made with attention to period detail for use in re-enactment battles. Not sure how to wield a weapon? Sign up for one of their swordsmanship classes and get skilled up to join their regular re-enactments.

Three times a week (Weds, Thurs, Sat 6-9pm) Future Relics Emporium hosts Dungeons and Dragons sessions. Contact them directly to learn more.

Getting there: 

Future Relics Emporium is on Lurline Street, parallel to Katoomba St, and opposite Katoomba RSL. It’s two minute’s walk from the roundabout on Katoomba St, or a ten minute walk from the train station, and there’s a bus stop just across the road.

17. Macarthur’s Arcade

Address: 84 Katoomba St Katoomba

Open hours: 7 days 10am-5pm

Contact: (02) 4782 5768

What’s in store: 

Macarthur’s Arcade is a meandering expanse of absorbing antique items: electrical goods, vintage clothing, original paintings, clocks, furniture, ornaments, ethnic and indigenous artifacts, bric-a-brac and more. They also showcase items on their Facebook page and ebay store.

Getting there: 

The building is located in the main street of Katoomba, (on the left side if you’re coming from the Great Western Highway side), just past St Hilda’s church. 

Can you trade in your secondhand goods here?

They offer payment or store credit for suitable goods. Bring them in during store hours. Another option is to email in photographs. They can do whole house buys.

18. Mr Pickwicks Fine Old Books

Address: 84 Katoomba St Katoomba

Open hours: 7 days 10am-5pm

Contact: (02) 4782 7598; Email: pickwick@bigpond.net.au

What’s in store: 

Downstairs from Macarthurs Arcade, you’ll find Mr Pickwick’s: a haven for about 40,000 books (15,000 or so are listed on their internet site). About 90 per cent are secondhand, rare and antiquarian books. There’s also scores of CDs, LPs and DVDs to browse, plus sheet music. 

Getting there: 

The building is located in the main street of Katoomba, (on the left side if you’re coming from the Great Western Highway side), just past St Hilda’s church. 

Can you trade in your secondhand goods here?

Mr Pickwicks is always on the lookout for books, particularly in the likes of trade, philosophy, crime, sci-fi and antiquarian books. They don’t take encyclopaedias and most modern popular fiction. 

19. Black Antiques

Address: 186 Bathurst Rd, Katoomba

Open hours: Thur – Mon 10am-5pm; closed Tue, Wed

Contact: (02) 4782 4619; email: black.antiques@gmail.com

Website: www.facebook.com/BlackAntiquesKatoomba/

What’s in store:

With the vibe of an old archeology dig, it’s a dusty den of antiquity and quirky finds. The hoard includes the 1830’s engraving of a monkey, a Papuan canoe and a 70mm projector from the Orpheum Theatre in Cremorne.

Other items include garden paraphernalia, household goods, rustic and provincial items like agricultural machinery and ladders, pottery, vintage lighting, old maps, art photography, vintage and antiquarian books and various other general old wares and artifacts. Rex, the biz owner, is also a fan of what he calls “strange scientific stuff” – like laboratory apparatus and test equipment. The shop also does prop hire. 

Getting there: 

From the Great Western Highway, turn right at the roundabout just after you cross the railway bridge. You’ll find Black Antiques spilling out onto the street just past the Todarello’s fruit and veg store. 

Can you trade in your secondhand goods here?

No. Black Antiques doesn’t buy from the general public. 

20. Katoomba Antique Centre

Address: 116-118 Bathurst Rd, Katoomba

Open hours: Mon & Wed 10am-3pm; Thur – Sat 10am-4pm; Sun 10am-3pm.

Contact: katoomba.antiquecentre116@gmail.com

What’s in store: 

Manned by the big character of Steven Archer (auctioneer and valuer of Archers Auctioneers and Valuers fame), it’s a literal museum of treasures collected on his travels around the world. The relics here, mostly rare and unique cultural items, date from thousands of years old onward.

The treasures include art (from the Renaissance to the 18^th century), Buddhist icons, pottery, textiles, rugs, crafts, antique books, furniture, jewellery, medals, old silver and Japanese woodcuts. There’s an attached photographic museum featuring old cameras from the 1840s to 1950s, a book library and coffee shop/vegetarian eatery.

Getting there: 

Katoomba Antique Centre is just off the roundabout after you cross the rail line bridge into Katoomba off the Great Western Highway. 

Can you trade in your secondhand goods here?

No.

21. Memento Vintage & Antiques

Address: 69 Katoomba St Katoomba

Open hours: 7 days 10am-4pm

Contact: (02) 4782 4041

Socials: www.facebook.com/mementovintageandantiques; https://www.instagram.com/mementovintageandantiques

What’s in store: 

An eclectic collection of objects. “We don’t discriminate against any item,” we’re told. Among the treasure hoard, you’ll find Pokemon cards, fossils, Roman oil lamps, prints, paintings, books, comics, CDs, cassette tapes and records, designer fashion, 80s to 90s vintage clothing, shoes including a huge range of sneakers (and a pair of vintage Air Jordans on the day of the author’s visit), wood-block etchings, antique jewellery and art in all forms and ages. You can pick up a 1960s penny for $2 or a 1970s Vietnamese propaganda photo for $780.

Getting there: 

Memento is on the right hand side of Katoomba street as you head down the hill, just down from the Paragon Cafe (sadly still closed).

Can you trade in your secondhand goods here?

Memento doesn’t buy stuff from the general public. 

22. The Velvet Fog

Address: 76 Bathurst Rd Katoomba

Open hours: Tue – Sat 10am-5pm.

Contact: (02) 4782 5277; thevelvetfog@bigpond.com

Website: thevelvetfog.com.au 

Socials: https://www.facebook.com/thevelvetfogrecords/, https://www.instagram.com/thevelvetfog/

What’s in store:

Old LPs, hi-fi equipment, CDs, DVDs and music books (including bios, band histories and musical encyclopaedias). About 95 per cent of sale items are secondhand, according to business owner, Paul Tatz.

Photos: courtesy of The Velvet Fog

Getting there: 

The Velvet Fog is conveniently located directly across from Katoomba station.   

Can you trade in your secondhand goods here?

Yes. Paul buys from the general public and reckons he pays decently. In fact, he has a running advertisement in the local paper. Call or visit the shop during opening hours. He doesn’t accept or sell musical items other than valve amplifiers. 

Free Stuff

23. Katoomba Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facility

Address: 49 Woodlands Rd, Katoomba

Open hours: Mon – Fri 8am-4pm; Sat 10am-2pm

Contact: (02) 4780 5398

Website: www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/katoomba-rrwm-facility

What’s up for grabs?

The Reuse Shed offers free discarded but still useable items rescued from waste. Examples of potential finds include books, wardrobes, chairs and other household items.  

Getting there: 

The Katoomba Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facility is in North Katoomba on the same road as the Katoomba public hospital. To browse the Reuse Shed or bring in items, arrive at least 15 minutes prior to closing time and wear closed footwear. 

Bringing in unwanted items 

To offload stuff directly at the waste facility costs $48 for the first 100 kg of mixed waste. To drop off a mattress costs $34. Take advantage of free council pickups (offered to locals) and free drop off of specific items like car batteries, x-ray films, fluorescent globes and tubes, paint and white goods. The facility has a new Textile Recovery Bin where you can drop off textiles including clothing, shoes, hats, belts, outdoor soft furnishings, linen, cushions, pillows, blankets and soft toys. All materials, however, must be in decent condition, free of stains and rips.

Donating Sustainably

• Secondhand stores don’t accept anything broken, stained, soiled, torn, wet or unusable or used underwear or socks. If you wouldn’t buy it yourself or gift it to a friend, don’t expect others will. 

• Take donated items in during business hours. Avoid leaving items out where weather can wet or damage them. 

• Know what stores take what. Avoid donating indiscriminately. If unsure, and for non-standard items, try calling. 

• Electrical items in good, working condition are accepted by the Cancer Wellness Support Op Shop and Salvos, Katoomba. 

• Be aware that Christian and animal welfare charity shops won’t accept items in conflict with their values, such as weapons, drug paraphernalia or fur.  

• Take unsaleable items including textiles to the Katoomba Resource Recovery and Waste Management Facility

By Nick Whiterod, University of Adelaide and Sylvia Zukowski, University of Adelaide

Murray crayfish once thrived in the southern Murray-Darling Basin. The species was found everywhere from the headwaters of the Murray and Murrumbidgee Rivers in the Australian Alps all the way down to Wellington in South Australia.

For thousands of years, First Nations people managed harvesting sustainably. But crayfish stocks crashed after European settlement. This was partly due to commercial and recreational harvest, which began in the late 1860s. At its peak in 1955, 15 tonnes of Murray crayfish were taken from the river in New South Wales and sent to markets in Melbourne and Sydney.

In South Australia, the commercial fishery was unsustainable by the 1960s and the species was no longer targeted. In the 1980s, Murray crayfish became a protected species in the state. But the damage was done.

Over-harvesting was not the only problem. Murray crayfish prefer free-flowing, oxygen-rich water, so they suffered from efforts to regulate river flows using dams and weirs. Poor water quality, including pollution from pesticides and other agricultural chemicals, made matters worse.

Murray crayfish disappeared from South Australia sometime in the past 40 years. Targeted surveys over a five-year period couldn’t find them anywhere in the state.

But that all changed in the winter of 2023 when our reintroduction program began. Now we’re preparing for the third release of crayfish and there are positive signs many crays from earlier releases are still going strong.

A species in need of support

Like many species from the highly threatened Euastacus genus, Murray crayfish grow slowly. It takes almost ten years for a female to reach sexual maturity, and she only produces a small number of eggs. Dispersal is also limited. This makes it hard for the population to recover in both number and range.

Following a recent assessment, the species Euastacus armatus is expected to soon be listed as vulnerable to extinction under Australia’s conservation laws.

Conservation actions such as reintroductions will be necessary to aid recovery of the species.

A long time coming, shaped by adversity

The idea of returning Murray crayfish to the river in South Australia is not new.

Two University of Adelaide ecologists, the late Keith Walker and Mike Geddes, first suggested it in the 1990s. They even conducted trials involving crayfish in cages to show sections of the river would be suitable for the species.

Then in 2007, the reintroduction idea was floated again. It was one of the main recommendations in a report identifying gaps in knowledge of the species.

But the idea really gathered momentum after disaster struck. Widespread flooding across the southern Murray-Darling Basin in 2010–11 led to a “hypoxic blackwater” event. This is where leaf litter and debris from the floodplain wash into the river, depleting levels of oxygen and causing mass deaths of both fish and crayfish.

This inspired further research into crayfish genetics, recovery potential and preferred habitat. It guided a 2019 strategy outlining how the species could be successfully reintroduced. A trial five-year reintroduction program in the New South Wales range of the species helped refine the strategy.

Then another Murray blackwater event in 2022–23, in NSW and Victoria, forced crayfish out of the water and up the riverbanks.

Vision of dying crayfish leaving the water, only to be consumed by predators or poached by people, prompted the community to respond. Guided by fisheries agencies and a fishing conservation charity, they rescued crays and held them safely in aquaculture facilities until they could be released back into the wild.

Many of these crayfish were later returned to the river where they came from. But a small number were held for release into SA as part of our new reintroduction program.

In a truly collaborative effort, a small environmental not-for-profit organisation, Nature Glenelg Trust, worked in partnership with a natural resource management agency, First Nations community, fisheries agencies from three states and a private aquaculture facility to turn the idea into reality.

Positive signs from crayfish releases

Murray crayfish were first released back into South Australia in winter 2023. It was a big moment for people who have long championed the species’ return.

A further 200 crayfish were released during winter 2024.

During each release, some of the crayfish were tagged with trackers. This has provided world-first movement and activity information. It shows all tagged crayfish being regularly detected, indicating they are flourishing.

Field surveys each season at the reintroduction site have also found the species alive and well, representing the first Murray crayfish found in the state for more than 40 years.

Returning a totemic and iconic species

The reintroduction of Murray crayfish into a closely guarded location in South Australia’s Riverland is both culturally and ecologically significant.

It signals the return of a important totem to the Erawirung people of the region, and provides a way to reconnect with the species.

Reestablishing a population of the species in South Australia, where hypoxic blackwater events have not been as severe, also provides insurance against extinction.

The species is considered a keystone species, meaning it plays a disproportionately large role in the ecosystem. So returning it to the river may have even greater ecological benefits.

The first of many steps

Reintroduction programs require ongoing commitment if they are to be successful. Extra crayfish will need to be added to the reintroduced population over the coming years.

The reintroduced population will continue to be monitored to ensure numbers are increasing and the range expanding. It will remain protected from fishing by local fisheries authorities.

If successful, further reintroductions may be undertaken into other parts of South Australia.

This initiative is a partnership between Nature Glenelg Trust and the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board through funding from the landscape levies, with support from NSW Fisheries, Victorian Fisheries Authority, not-for-profit organisation OzFish Unlimited, North West Aquaculture, the River Murray & Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC), CSIRO and the Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA).

Nick Whiterod, Science Program Manager, Goyder Institute for Water Research Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth Research Centre, University of Adelaide and Sylvia Zukowski, Senior Aquatic Ecologist, Nature Glenelg Trust. Adjunct Fellow, University of Adelaide

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

After a devastating bushfire, efforts to help nature recover typically focus on vertebrates and plants. Yet extreme fires can threaten insects, too.

After the Black Summer fires of 2019–20, I embarked on world-first research into whether “bee hotels” – a type of artificial nesting structure – could help native bees recolonise an area.

I installed 1,000 bee hotels in the Jarrah forests of Western Australia, parts of which burned during the Black Summer fires.

After months of monitoring, I concluded – with great excitement and relief – that the project was a success. Native bees were using the structures to lay eggs and raise young. The work shows pollinators such as bees can be aided after fires, to help bring damaged landscapes back to life.

Vital wild pollinators

Australia has more than 2,000 species of native bees. They help keep our ecosystems healthy, and play a crucial role in pollinating wildflowers.

Native bees typically nest in holes in trees that occur naturally when beetles bore through wood. When fire destroys trees, bees can be left without a place to nest and reproduce. This prevents them from recolonising habitats after fire.

Under climate change, bushfires in Australia are becoming more frequent and severe. Wood-nesting bees are especially vulnerable to bushfires. For example, fires are recognised as a major threat to the glittering green carpenter bee (Xylocopa aerata), which creates its own holes in wood to nest in.

The worsening fires take place at a time when global populations of wild pollinators, such as bees, are in steady decline. This problem has been well-publicised, although the plight of Australia’s native bees has received less attention.

My research tested whether bee hotels could help our native bees bounce back after fire.

What the research found

The Jarrah Forest of southwest Western Australia is a biodiversity hotspot. The 1,000 bee hotels were installed across five sites in the northern part of the forest, where bushfires burned during the summer of 2019–20.

Bee hotels replicate the holes in wood that native bees nest in. In August 2021, I installed bee hotels of two types: wooden blocks with 15 holes drilled in them, and bunches of about 50 bamboo stems bundled together. I monitored them from September 2021 to March 2022.

At the end of the period I concluded – with great excitement and relief – that the project was a success. Across all bee hotels at the five sites, 832 cavities were occupied by native bees.

Assuming four cells per cavity for each offspring, this meant more than 3,300 native bees would likely emerge in the next generation.

Uptake by bees was initially slow. This was to be expected, because the main group of species that used bee hotels – from the Megachile genus – tend to not be active in the region until late spring.

I found the nests were also used by bees of the genus Hylaeus, as well as tiny Exoneura bees. Other inhabitants included wasps, spiders, ants and crickets.

I also surveyed three burnt sites where bee hotels were not installed. There, I recorded the numbers of native bees foraging on flowers, and compared it to the sites with bee hotels. More native bees were present at the latter sites, which reinforced my findings.

Importantly, the research allowed natural recolonisation. It did not involve installing bee hotels at unburnt sites, then moving them to burnt areas once they were occupied. This could have been disastrous.

Aside from depleting one population, it may have meant native bees were moved to an area where there were not enough flowers, or were forced to compete with existing bee populations.

The research also showed European honey bees could pose a problem for native bees in fire-damaged landscapes. At sites with a higher density of honey bees, fewer native bees were foraging and fewer nests were occupied in the bee hotels.

This supports previous findings by myself and others that honey bees can negatively affect native bees. It adds further evidence that honey bees should not be permitted in sensitive habitats, such as bushland following fire or in national parks.

Empowering bee-saving efforts

My research provides proof that bee hotels can aid in the recovery of cavity-nesting native bees after fires.

This work fills a major gap. While there has been much attention on the recovery of furry animals and plants after fires, there has been far less investment into the recovery of plant pollinators.

Leaving insects to languish after fires isn’t just bad for those species. It also hampers the ability of ecosystems to recover from fire and other damage. This is especially true for pollinators such as native bees, which are vital for plant reproduction.

This work empowers us to help native bees after fires, by providing nesting resources to promote populations.

Kit Prendergast, Postdoctoral Researcher, Pollination Ecology, University of Southern Queensland

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Playgrounds can host a variety of natural wonders – and, of course, kids! Now some students are not just learning about insects and spiders at school — they are putting them on the map and even discovering and naming new species.

Studies indicate insect populations are declining, and species are going extinct every week in Australia. But scientists have only described about a third of Australia’s estimated total of insect species.

This means around 150,000 of our insect species do not have formal scientific names. We know little about where they are and what they do in ecosystems — vital information for stopping biodiversity loss.

So, our team developed the citizen science project Insect Investigators.

We took scientists to 50 regional schools across three states to learn about insects and other arthropods such as spiders. Students of all ages got to survey insect diversity, search for new species, and engage with entomologists and taxonomists throughout the school year.

Students helped name new species, including several species of parasitoid wasp.

Some of the scientific names include Apanteles darthvaderi (Back Plains State School students thought the wasp had gone to the “dark side” because of the way the wasp “sucks the life out of caterpillars”), Mirax supremus (named after the pinnacle science class at Beerwah State High School), and Coccygidium mellosiheroine, which means “honey-coloured hero” (named by students collaborating from several Queensland schools, who considered the wasp a hero as it attacks a crop pest).

Our latest paper on the project is now published. We learned hands-on citizen science increased students’ interests in insects, nature and science.

How many insects?

Around 1,800 students and more than 70 teachers collected insects in or near their schools.

Teachers sent samples to the project team, which sorted and sent a selection of specimens to be DNA barcoded. This method involves sequencing a small section of the genome to tell different species apart.

The specimens were then sent to experts around Australia, who are working to describe any new species collected.

The students collected more than 12,000 insect specimens, including 5,465 different species – many of which are probably not described.

It will take years to identify all the species and work out how many are new to science, but we already know 3,000 had not been recorded in the Barcode of Life DNA database (BOLD).

Good for insects, good for learning

Getting to know insects as part of this citizen science project was great for kids’ active learning and developing an appreciation of the natural world.

Students said they felt more interested in insects, nature and science, and it inspired them to spend more time outdoors.

“I learnt there are many insect and plant species… that I haven’t seen before and how in different ecosystems you can find different insects,” said a student from South Australia.

When students are engaged, it’s no surprise teachers enjoy their jobs more too — and this is exactly what we found. The more enthusiastic the students were about nature and science experiences through the project, the more interested the teachers were in teaching these topics.

One teacher reported “students gained an understanding of the work of scientists, how to participate in research, protocols to follow, and gained a huge interest in insects!”

Insect Investigators won the 2024 Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science (Australian Museum)

What did students get out of it?

After the insect survey was completed, we asked 118 students and 22 teachers in nine of the schools about what they experienced, and how they see insects and nature now.

Students said the chance to find a new species, as well as discovering and catching insects they had not seen before, were highlights of Insect Investigators.

Experiencing a hands-on learning style, outside in nature, was also mentioned as a benefit of the program.

Many students said they now wanted to spend more time outdoors, act and encourage others to protect nature, and pay more attention to insect conservation and science classes. This implies the experience and discovery associated with hands-on citizen science has motivated greater engagement with nature and science.

The potential of school-based citizen science

Insect surveys offer an accessible way for students to actively learn about science and nature. Insects are virtually everywhere and by photographing them, students can observe natural insect behaviour – without the need to collect them.

The iNaturalist App and Atlas of Living Australia facilitate citizen scientists to explore nature around them. We’ve also created resources for teachers who want to introduce lessons on insects into their school homepage.

It’s never too early to develop science literacy skills and give children the chance to develop their curiosity, critical thinking and problem solving.

Connecting schools and scientists is a great way to engage young learners and foster connections to nature. It has the added bonus of inventorying our natural world which is vital to conserving Australia’s biodiversity.

Authors:

Andy G Howe, Research Fellow (Entomology), University of the Sunshine Coast; Erinn Fagan-Jeffries, Wasp biodiversity group leader, University of Adelaide; Patrick O’Connor, Professor in Natural Resource Economics, University of Adelaide, and Trang Nguyen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Adelaide

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Nyamugasani River flows through the flood plains in the foothills of Rwenzori Mountains National Park, one of the sites supported by the CAPA initiative. Image courtesy of Alec Crawford/IISD.

Protected areas such as national parks, nature reserves and Indigenous lands are the foundation of biodiversity conservation. However, climate change is threatening their effectiveness in safeguarding wildlife, ecosystem services and livelihoods.

As many countries work to meet the global target of protecting 30% of the planet’s lands and waters by 2030 — known as the 30×30 goal, a cornerstone of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework — scientists are calling for the incorporation of “climate-smart” approaches into the planning of new and existing protected areas.

Key Points:

• Climate change is threatening the effectiveness of protected areas (PAs) in safeguarding wildlife, ecosystem services and livelihoods, with scientists now calling for the incorporation of “climate-smart” approaches into the planning of new and existing PAs.

• Key approaches to developing a network of climate-smart PAs include protecting climate refugia, building connectivity, identifying species’ future habitats and areas that promote natural adaptation.

• Experts emphasise that climate-smart conservation plans must address immediate local needs, engage diverse stakeholders through transboundary collaboration, and rapidly expand across freshwater and marine ecosystems.

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“While we know that climate change is affecting biodiversity, for example through distribution range shifts, local extinctions, and community restructuring, designs of PAs [protected areas] don’t usually explicitly account for these effects,” says Kristine Buenafe, a doctoral researcher at the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science at the University of Queensland, Australia, and lead author of a recent review published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity.

Buenafe’s paper indicates that conservationists risk protecting areas where species may no longer live in the future, if they don’t factor in climate change dynamics.

“We’ve reached a critical time to consider where to best place our new PAs and make sure that they are ‘climate-smart’ (resilient to climate change),” Buenafe said in an email interview.

This reasoning is echoed by Brittany Trew, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and former scientist at the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

“In the coming decade, I hope climate change will be integrated as a core principle in conservation planning,” Trew said via email.

Trew is the lead author of another study, published last year in Conservation Letters, that found that many areas of high conservation value in tropical forests are already experiencing unprecedented temperature conditions.

“Our research shows that almost two thirds of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in tropical forests are already experiencing new temperature regimes as a result of climate change, including those in globally important national parks, Indigenous reserves and large tracts of ecologically unfragmented areas,” Trew wrote. “When selecting new protected areas, we need to start considering the impact of ongoing climate changes on those sites in prioritisation assessments.”

Climate-smart conservation blueprint

Trew’s study also identified a range of KBAs, many of them currently unprotected or only partially protected, that have been less affected by warming trends and serve as “climate refugia.” These refuges for biodiversity must be prioritized for protection, according to the study.

Climate refugia are unevenly distributed across the global tropics, Trew said. In Asia and Oceania, they’re concentrated in Papua New Guinea, coastal Indonesia and northern Australia. In Latin America, they’re located in the Peruvian Yungas, Mexican Yucatán, Guiana Shield and Brazil’s coastal Atlantic Forest. Africa has far fewer, mainly in the western Congo Basin, southwest Cameroon and the western Gulf of Guinea coast.

“Climate-smart conservation requires identifying and safeguarding those locations which are providing refuge from global temperature changes, whether that be via legal protection, carbon payments or empowering indigenous communities,” Trew wrote. “On the other hand, it also means improving landscape connectivity to enable species movement, prioritizing elevational gradients, and ensuring management strategies are responsive to shifting biodiversity patterns.”

Trew added this isn’t just about creating new protected areas, but also “adapting existing ones” to make them more resilient to climate impacts.

The research led by Buenafe corroborates that protecting climate refugia and areas that facilitate connectivity, as well as species’ future habitats and areas that promote natural adaptation, are all key approaches to developing a network of climate-smart protected areas. These approaches rely on science-based spatial models that project how species distributions will shift with rapidly rising temperatures. Models can also show where climate refugia are concentrated, where connectivity corridors should be expanded, and which areas may promote natural adaptation for certain species.

“When developing a climate-smart PA, conservation planners should leverage different combinations of these approaches, taking care that the chosen approach makes sense for the species and ecosystems that we want to conserve and protect,” Buenafe wrote. “A great starting point is protecting climate refugia in larger PAs and protecting smaller ‘stepping stone’ areas that could facilitate climate connectivity across the broader network.”

According to Buenafe’s research, climate-smart planning serves not only as an adaptation strategy but also holds potential for mitigating climate change, as conserved ecosystems contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Turning science into action

Some organizations have started exploring practical ways to climate-proof protected areas. The Climate Adaptation and Protected Areas (CAPA) initiative, for example, led by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society and WWF, was launched in 2023 to support the implementation of adaptation measures in and around protected areas across Africa, Fiji and Belize.

Susan Sekirime, senior policy adviser at IISD and the lead for CAPA Africa, said it’s evident that climate change — particularly in the form of droughts, flooding, rising temperatures, stronger and more frequent storms — is impacting the flora and fauna surrounding some protected areas and the local communities that rely on them.

“Guided by the findings of the comprehensive climate risk assessment we undertook in our target landscapes, we work with conservation partners, local communities, and local authorities to design and implement nature-based solutions,” Sekirime said via email. The program is currently working in the Greater Virunga and Kavango Zambezi Landscapes in Africa, as well as in Fiji and Belize.

In Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park, for example, collaborators cleared 200 hectares (about 500 acres) of invasive sicklebush to restore wildlife access to feeding grounds and water sources. In Rwenzori Mountains National Park, also in Uganda, the team has replanted and restored more than 400 hectares (nearly 1,000 acres) of burned forest to reduce flood risk. Other strategies implemented across Africa include desilting and stabilizing natural lagoons to improve rainwater retention, and reintroducing wildlife species to enhance genetic diversity and ecosystem health.

CAPA’s risk assessment also found that Indigenous peoples, local communities, women, and people with disabilities are among the most climate-vulnerable and underrepresented groups in climate discussions. To address this imbalance, the initiative promotes their active participation in local conservation efforts.

By 2026, CAPA is expected to conclude its activities. “We hope to see an enhanced integration of adaptation and climate considerations into protected area management, and an improvement in the agency of women and other underrepresented groups in the design and implementation of nature-based solutions,” Sekirime wrote.

Another example is the Protected Areas Resilient to Climate Change (PARCC) project in West Africa, led by the U.N. Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). Although this five-year project concluded in 2016, it laid the groundwork by systematically assessing climate change impacts across the region and building the capacity of decision-makers to incorporate this knowledge into national policies and protected area management.

“Protected and conserved areas can contribute towards climate change adaptation and mitigation,” said Elise Belle, PARCC’s project lead and current project manager at WCMC Europe, an affiliated entity of UNEP-WCMC. “However, for this to work, it is essential that these areas are well connected, and that appropriate policies and effective management are put in place.”

Integrating these areas into national and international climate policies, such as the Paris Agreement, is a key step toward realizing their full potential in addressing the climate crisis, Belle added. According to a book chapter she co-authored in 2023, just over a third of countries have included protected areas in their emissions reduction and adaptation targets (known as their Nationally Determined Contributions) under the Paris Agreement.

Addressing shortcomings for stronger action

To achieve long-term success, adaptation plans must combine strategies that address the immediate needs of local communities and wildlife, especially in areas already facing severe water and food shortages, Sekirime said.

“Addressing the immediate needs [of local people and wildlife], for example through identifying strategic partnerships and creating synergies with organizations that deal with disaster relief, is crucial to the success of the longer-term nature-based solutions for adaptation strategies,” she wrote.

Buenafe said that “transboundary collaboration” and “transparent consultation” with stakeholders are vital to developing effective climate-smart conservation plans. Key stakeholders, she said, include Indigenous peoples and local communities, who are recognized as traditional knowledge holders, as well as representatives of industries that develop economic activities in target areas (e.g., tourism, fisheries, agriculture), scientists from a range of disciplines, and practitioners who are pivotal in putting conservation plans into action.

Their research also shows a critical shortcoming: most climate-smart approaches to date focus on terrestrial ecosystems, while freshwater and marine realms remain underrepresented. This bias also extends geographically, with fewer studies and less data from the Global South.

“We should do a better job at developing reproducible approaches that could be applied across different realms,” Buenafe wrote. “Developing climate-smart approaches that could be transferable to data-poor regions would also increase their uptake.”

Daniel Dunn, Buenafe’s co-author on the recent paper and director of the University of Queensland’s Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, said there’s a critical need for rapid uptake of climate-smart approaches by conservationists.

“If we don’t incorporate climate considerations in the measures implemented to achieve the 30×30 target in the next five years, we are simply managing [PAs] by hope and praying that it will all still be there for our great-grandkids,” Dunn said.

Story by Marina Martinez

This article has been reproduced from news.mongabay.com under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original story here >

Since COVID-19 many of us have struggled with lingering health issues. This is something Blackheathen Virginia Field understands too well. As a 19 year-old she grappled with ongoing ill health after a 6-week feverish illness that changed the direction of her life. With frequent relapses over the next six years her health finally turned around after a 6-week acupuncture treatment that introduced her to Chinese medicine.

Key Points:

• Tai Chi has been found to improve brain function (like memory and mental flexibility) faster than other exercise and, in a recent study, comparing Tai Chi to brisk walking, the martial art was found to be significantly better at reducing blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease, like blood sugar levels and cholesterol.

• Harvard Medical School has reported that this gentle form of exercise can help maintain strength, flexibility, and balance, and could be the perfect activity for the rest of your life. It’s particularly popular in Hong Kong, where residents have one of the highest life expectancies in the world!

• The Planetary Health Centre in Katoomba offers Tai Chi and Qigong sessions at its Skill Share Saturdays on the first Saturday of every month.

“I remember walking out of that treatment time and just feeling so alive. For those years, from 19-25, I’d been really dragging myself around like an old lady. It was like I had my life back, and I thought about studying acupuncture at the time, but I was never really enamored with the thought of putting needles in people. But I did find a Tai Chi teacher and I knew that Tai Chi was the same kind of medicine. And I was just a very dedicated student from those early years. I can’t imagine my life without it. It’s been such a constant since those years and that time.”

Fast forward to 2025, and Virginia is sharing what she’s learnt about both Tai Chi and Qigong, at the Planetary Health Centre’s Skill Share Saturdays on the first Saturday of every month. Virginia describes Qigong, the ancient Chinese medicine movement practice, as being meditative like yoga, and the martial art Tai Chi being more like dance, but with each movement being intentional. Both practices help connect body, mind and spirit and studies have shown that both have a profound impact on both wellbeing and physical health outcomes.

Litoria littlejohni, photographed in Woodford (Photo: Andy Klotz)

When the Frogs of the Blue Mountains exhibition opened at the Planetary Health Centre in March it featured photos of 20 different local frogs. We were thrilled, however, when Andy Klotz and other members of the Hawkesbury Herpetological Society recently managed to photograph another frog in Woodford: the rarely seen and endangered Litoria littlejohni, also known as the Northern Heath Frog or Orange-bellied Tree Frog. We’ve added a photo of that frog to the exhibition and created a new Frogs of the Blue Mountains video in which you can listen to its call here. 

Key Points:

• There have been dotted sightings of the endangered Litoria littlejohni (the Northern Heath Frog) from Woodford to Lithgow.

• Frogs are under threat because of the Chytrid fungus, habitat loss, bushfire and predators.

• We can all help grow connected landscapes for frogs by introducing water bodies for frogs into our yards.

We interviewed Andy to learn more about the Littlejohni and how they managed to find its small local population. 

Peering into a damp sphagnum moss bog might not be everyone’s idea of a good time, but for 10-year-old Andy Klotz it proved to be a catalyst for a life-long passion.

In that Kosciuszko moss, decades ago, the young boy managed to locate an endangered Corroboree frog: a frog that most people struggle to find.

Andy photographing a Peron’s tree frog in the Planetary Health Centre pond

Photographing Littlejohni in Woodford

His quest for the small and hidden things – including snakes and spiders – has continued throughout Andy’s life. Having ponds around his house and having grown and sold water-plants for years, has meant that frogs have been frequent visitors in his life, allowing him to continue his observations. Joining the Hawkesbury Herpetological Society has connected him with a team of like-minded enthusiasts.

It was while night-spotting in Woodford recently, that they found a small population of the rare, endangered frog: Litoria littlejohni, otherwise known as the Northern Heath Frog. Littlejohni is a quiet frog, but playing the FrogID app induces it to call.

View our video of the Northern Heath Frog and the 20 Other Frogs of the Blue Mountains here:

According to Andy there have been dotted sightings of Littlejohni from Woodford to Lithgow. From the Herpetological Society’s observations, they appear to particularly favor still water bodies with Gahnia Sieberiana growing along the banks. “You’ll find one frog per Gahnia plant,” said Andy. The frogs will “perch on the arching leaves over the water and call, and the moment you come near they’ll scuttle back down into the thatch at the bottom, which they’re the same color as.”

Gahnia, known as red-fruit saw-edge, is a tall native plant. It is also the habitat and food source for the Swordgrass Brown butterfly. The butterfly’s green larvae dangle from the leaves and appear to serve as a food source for the frogs, pointing to a complex, inter-connected micro-ecosystem.

The Society is aiming to plant more Gahnia plants around water bodies to test whether their presence will increase Littlejohni numbers.  

Gahnia Sieberiana

Why Littlejohni is endangered

When asked why he believes the frog is endangered Andy described several reasons.

He said that since the 70’s many have been killed by the Chytrid fungus which is a worldwide threat to frogs. Littlejohni and the Golden Bell Frog are particularly prone to being killed by it. Some species, like the Striped Marsh Frog, are immune to it, but they do carry and spread the disease.

“It’s really good practice, when you’re going out on these trips, to spray your shoes and hands with a mixture of 70% methylated spirits and 30% water,” says Andy. This kills the Chytrid fungus and most bacteria that can harm frogs and other species.

Increasing urban development and habitat loss are another threat. With habitats no longer connected, isolated populations are being forced to inbreed. Fires and predators also reduce their populations.

Litoria Littlejohni or Northern Heath Frog (Photo: Andy Klotz)

Re-connecting landscapes for frogs

“There are some good programs going on,” enthuses Andy, telling of a Sydney program in which artificial ponds were built, and then loudspeakers, playing the frog calls, lured the frogs over a distance of three kilometres. Residents reported the frogs moving through their backyard ponds to reach the artificially created breeding ground that was created. It included netting to deter storks, and salt in the water to prevent Chytrid fungus.

“Frogs are amazing. They travel and they’re adaptable,” said Andy.

Andy encourages everybody to consider creating habitat to help reconnect landscapes for frogs. Attracting them to your yard provides the bonus of them reducing the number of mosquitos and pest insects in your garden.

Finding frogs

“The best times to frog hunt are in the dark and when there is water about,” Andy says. Frogs can be found all year round in different locations and the best times are after, or during rain, particularly if followed by a warm night.

They can be found in a variety of habitats: from damp leaf litter, to shallow ditches, to two metres up a tree. Andy and the Society use a variety of techniques including sprinkling water to simulate rain and playing the frog’s call via the Frog ID app to lure them out.

“If you have a couple of you, you can hear from a few metres away from each other, point in the direction of where you hear the frog, and then you walk to where the frog is and shine your light beam and you go – that’s where it is!”

Take Action:

• See the Frogs of the Blue Mountains exhibition and view the frog ponds at the Planetary Health Centre

• Help grow connected landscapes for frogs by providing small water containers or building a pond in your own backyard that’s protected from cats and dogs. Find out how here: https://bmpluriversity.org/ponds/

• Get involved with the Frog and Tadpole Study Group of NSW (FATS) https://www.fats.org.au/ or the Hawkesbury Herpetological Society https://www.hawkesburyherps.org.au/

By Nigel Tucker, James Cook University

Like ferns and the tides, community conservation groups come and go. Many achieve their goal. Volunteers restore a local wetland or protect a patch of urban bush and then hang up the gardening gloves with a warm inner glow. Some groups peter out while others endure, tackling the ecological problems facing today’s Australia.

One of those problems is fragmentation. Let’s say you have a national park in one spot and another large tract of habitat ten kilometres away. It’s too hard for many wildlife species to make it across open ground to get there. Over time, this means wild areas can effectively become islands.

This is where habitat corridors come in. Potentially, if you restore habitat between two isolated areas, wildlife can begin to safely move between the two. Over time, these corridors allow seeds, pollen, native birds and animals to disperse across today’s landscapes.

In my work as a restoration ecologist, I’ve come across many of Australia’s community groups devoted to the job. Three of these are LUCI – Lockyer Upland Catchments Inc, which began in 2015, the Big Scrub Rainforest Conservancy, founded in 1993 and TREAT – Trees for the Evelyn and Atherton Tablelands Inc, which began in 1982. Each of these has gone the distance. Here are some reasons why.

Where are wildlife corridors most needed?

Australia’s Wet Tropics are especially threatened by fragmentation. This region is World Heritage listed due to its remarkable biodiversity. Tropical forests have grown here for at least 130 million years. Fragmentation directly threatens this.

In the tropical uplands of the Atherton Tablelands, there are three popular national parks – the Crater Lakes of Eacham and Barrine and the Curtain Fig Tree. But while visitors might see them as pristine, each is an island surrounded by pasture and settlement. Over time, this will take its toll on the species within.

Staying the course

For a volunteer group to reverse the effects of fragmentation, and embark on a long term project such as this, it needs three things.

First the group has leaders committed to a long term cause, usually scientists or naturalists as well as locals with knowledge and drive. Leaders have to be able to work with governments and group members of all persuasions.

Second, the group has to be guided by science. You need current information on local plants, animals and habitats to make sure on-ground work has direct conservation benefits.

And third, networking skills. Harnessing the technical expertise of other groups, government and experts in project planning, execution and monitoring is vital.

Each of these three groups has these traits, even though they take different approaches to the challenge.

LUCI is an alliance of private landholders in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley, west of Brisbane, who work to protect remnant vegetation and expand habitat. Their work on threatened species monitoring, protection of remnant vegetation on private land and community engagement reflects their emphasis on education.

Before European settlement, lowland subtropical rainforest covered 75,000 hectares of land in what is now Byron Bay’s hinterland. But 99% was cut down. In response, Big Scrub members have replanted around 600 hectares – doubling the size of what was left – and established an innovative genetics program to assist in maintaining and enhancing the gene pool of trees planted.

TREAT is based on the Atherton Tablelands in far north Queensland. This region has long been prized for agriculture, which comes at a cost to habitat. In response, TREAT has worked to reconnect isolated tracts of rainforest. The group collaborates with Queensland Parks and Wildlife to grow many thousands of native rainforest tree seedlings for planting each year.

All three groups recognise the importance of countering habitat fragmentation. This slicing and dicing forests into smaller and isolated patches severely threatens Australia’s biodiversity.

Wildlife corridors are deceptively simple in theory. But as I know from long experience restoring habitat, it’s harder than it seems.

Does it work?

Planting corridors sounds like a sure thing. But success is not guaranteed. For one thing, it takes work and time. You need baseline surveys, expert analysis of data and monitoring, ideally over decades. Given these challenges, it’s unsurprising that wildlife corridor restoration is little-studied.

In the 1990s, TREAT volunteers planted 17,000 trees to reconnect a 498 hectare fragment around Lake Barrine to the 80,000ha Wooroonooran National Park 1.2 kilometres away. This corridor is now more than 20 years old. It’s known as the Donaghy’s Corridor Nature Refuge, after the Donaghy family who donated the land for corridor restoration.

My research has found this corridor is proving successful, using good data collected before, during and after establishment. Ground mammals are moving along the corridor, and breeding has taken place. We could see this in the exchange of genes between two previously separated populations of the native bush rat (Rattus fuscipes).

More recent studies have shown the corridor has been colonised by many species, ranging from threatened and endemic plants to birds, ground mammals, reptiles, amphibians and microbats. While promising, this is just one corridor. Much more data would be needed to prove this approach is broadly effective.

As habitat fragmentation continues and the effects of climate change ramp up, more and more species will need to move. The work of volunteer groups such as LUCI, Big Scrub and TREAT in reconnecting scattered pieces of habitat is only going to get more important.

Nigel Tucker, Research Associate in Environment and Sustainability, James Cook University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

From Left to Right: Sean Moore (Bushcare Officer), Maree, Meredith, Ian

There’s a small group of passionate Blue Mountains Bushcarers who meet monthly to collect and clean local native seed. We met up with them to find out how and why they cooked Banksias to release seeds, how they cleaned the seeds of a variety of different Gahnia species, and why they love being part of the Bushcare Seed Collectors Group.

Key Points:

• The Bushcare Seed Collectors meet from 10am to 3pm on the second Tuesday of every month. Contact Blue Mountains City Council Bushcare Office to learn more.

• Approval must be obtained, preferably in writing, where seed and other propagation material is collected from land belonging to another landowner, whether private or public (e.g. Commonwealth, Crown, National Park, State Forest, local council), or Aboriginal land. 

• Visit the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water website to learn about the licences that are required to collect seed from threatened species and protected native plants.

Collecting and propagating native seed requires extensive knowledge about how native plants regenerate. One way to learn how to do this is to join the Blue Mountains Bushcare Seed Collectors Group: a warm and friendly group of locals who love plants and learning more about them, and who are motivated by knowing that their work will provide the fresh local seed needed to regenerate degraded areas, create habitat for wildlife, and protect the health of our bushland.

Veteran Bushcarer Ian Power, who also volunteers with the Planetary Health Bushcare Group on the first Saturday of the month, loves the diversity of activities that the Seed Collectors Group offers: “You do reconnaissance, you go out to areas to look for potential sites to collect seeds, or to check to see if plants are ready to have seeds collected. We also recover plants. A good example: when the council might be repairing a walking track and we can collect plants on either side of the track and then they’re grown on. And the other thing is to collect seeds and sometimes we just go out and do a lovely bushwalk, having a look. Which is my favourite day!”

The group can meet in various locations across the Blue Mountains but they’re also often at the Planetary Health Centre, as they were recently, when we interviewed them about cooking Banksias to release their seeds.

Learn how they do it in this video:

If you’d like to join the group, contact the Bushcare officer Tracy Abbas on 4780 5623 or email tabbas@bmcc.nsw.gov.au

These Conservation Management Notes were prepared by the NSW Government Office of Environment & Heritage, supported by Caring For Our Country

Managing bushland and wildlife habitat

Seed collecting in bushland and wildlife habitat

This note is for landowners wishing to collect native seed for revegetation projects on their land. Collection, cleaning and storage methods are outlined, as well as guidelines for ethical and sustainable collection.

Collecting sustainably and ethically

These guidelines will help protect the source area when seeds and other material, (such as underground stems, fern spores and cuttings) are being collected:

• avoid unnecessary damage (e.g. trampling of understorey plants)

• ensure nesting sites, tree hollows or other animal habitats are not disturbed

• do not remove more seed or plant material than is required

• do not remove more than 20 percent of the fruit from any one plant

• do not take more than 10 percent of plant material from any one plant (larger seed quantities should be obtained by collecting from more plants)

• avoid bringing weeds into the collection site by cleaning shoes, collection equipment, etc

• take particular care when collecting from rare or threatened plants — if collecting may put a local population of a species further at risk, it may be better not to collect at all.

Leave plenty of seed behind in the environment — it doesn’t go to waste if not collected

Native seed is a valuable resource, not only for seed collectors and plant propagators, but also for the plants that produce it, and for the native birds, mammals and insects that feed on it.

Native vegetation needs a healthy seedbank to continually regenerate, and to recover from disturbance such as fire. The seedbank is made up of seed still on the plants and seed that has dropped and is stored in the soil. Excessive removal of seeds from an area that is being left to regenerate could jeopardise plant recovery.

It takes a large number of seeds to produce a mature plant — many seeds and seedlings are eaten, or fail to find the right growing conditions to survive to maturity.

Minimise the amount of seed taken from the bush:

• plan ahead — have an idea of how much seed is required for each species and don’t collect more than necessary

• ensure revegetation works include good site preparation and maintenance, so that seedlings are not lost — be particularly careful with direct seeding as this method can be very wasteful of seed if not well managed

• for each species, find out how much seed a typical fruit contains, e.g. a eucalypt gumnut can contain hundreds of seeds, while a banksia cone may contain just a few

• avoid collecting immature seed

• clean and store seed promptly after collection — if it is not sown straight away, it may rot

• store seed properly in cool dry conditions so it stays viable for as long as possible.

Permits and licences

Where seed and other propagation material is collected from land belonging to another landowner, whether private or public (e.g. Commonwealth, Crown, National Park, State Forest, local council), or Aboriginal land, approval must be obtained, preferably in writing.

Licences are always required when collecting from:

• threatened species, populations and ecological communities listed under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, and the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

• schedule 13 Protected native plants under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.

Where to collect seed

It is generally best to match environmental conditions (such as ridgetop, floodplain, clay or sandy soil) at the planting site with those of the collection site.

In extensively cleared areas, roadsides, stock routes and reserves may have the greatest diversity of indigenous plants, and so can provide a good seed source for revegetation projects.

Collecting from planted vegetation should be avoided unless its original source is known with certainty.

Using local material

Local seed is also described as indigenous to the area or of local provenance.

The use of local native seed and other propagation material retains any unique characteristics of local genetic populations, which may be important for their long-term survival.

Care needs also to be taken not to encourage too narrow a gene pool, as this may also affect the long-term survival of a species. This needs consideration if species being collected are present in low numbers.

How local is local? It is rarely possible to be precise about distances, but an indication may be gained from how far a plant species disperses its seed and pollen. This varies for each species. Fleshy fruits of rainforest trees may be carried a long way by birds and bats so it may be appropriate to source them from anywhere within the region, while the drier seeds of peas and wattles will not travel far from the parent, and the collection range may need to be more narrow — but not so close to a small revegetation site that there is a risk of inbreeding.

The Florabank guidelines (www.florabank.org.au) provide more detail.

The practicalities of seed collection

Seed collection involves five separate processes: obtaining approvals and permits, collecting seedbearing fruit, extracting seed from the fruit, storing the seed to ensure maximum long-term viability and, depending on the project, recording what has been collected.

Ways to maximise the genetic quality of seed collected:

• collect from a wide range of plants — at least 10 of each species is recommended

• include plants that may not appear ‘perfect‘ specimens (such as crooked, gnarly trees), but avoid diseased plants

• collect from specimens scattered throughout the source patch rather than from adjacent specimens, which may be closely related (choose plants separated from one another by a distance of at least twice the plant height)

• avoid collecting seed from isolated plants unless it is combined with seed from other local plants (seed from isolated paddock specimens are likely to be less viable as they may be inbred from self-pollination)

• keep a record of from where and from how many parent plants seeds are collected.

Methods of collection

One of the best ways of collecting from tall trees is by taking advantage of fallen limbs and branches, provided it is clear which species they came from (e.g. there may be more than one eucalypt species present) and the seed has not already been released. A long-handled pruner used from the back of a truck may be adequate to reach lower branches.

Fruit on small trees and shrubs can be cut with secateurs or pruners, hand-picked, or the branches hand stripped. A drop-sheet or tarpaulin under the plant can be used to catch fallen seeds and fruit when branches are shaken.

For species which release their seed very quickly upon ripening (such as wattles and bush-peas), it may be worthwhile to tie paper bags or nylon stockings around the branches before the seed pods ripen.

Recognising mature fruit

In eucalypt forests and woodlands, seed of most native plants is found in woody fruits, whereas many fruits in rainforests are succulent. It is important to ensure that the fruit is ripe when picked, as unripe fruit contains immature seed.

Some species release their seed immediately after ripening, while others retain their seed for years.

Plants of the Fabaceae family (wattles and peas) are some of the quickest to release their seed, so timing is critical. The pods which contain the seed generally change from green to brown upon ripening.

Other species retain their seed on woody fruit on the plant for a year or more, e.g. Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Leptospermum, Callistemon, Callitris (cypress), Casuarina and Allocasuarina (she-oaks) and Banksia. The fruit of these species change from green to brown or grey at maturity.

Many plants found in rainforests have fleshy berries. Berries often change from green to another colour and become soft when mature.

Drying

Before seed can be extracted from woody and other non-succulent fruit, it needs to be dried. It should be stored in a warm, dry, well-ventilated place free from seed-eating insects, mice and birds. Plastic sheets or tarpaulins may be appropriate for larger quantities, while paper bags are generally good for smaller quantities. It is vital that the drying environment isn’t so humid that the fruit or seed becomes mouldy. It is also vital that different batches of seed don’t mix together in the drying process — wattle pods, for example, ‘explode’ when they open, ejecting their seed some distance.

Seeds enclosed in a fleshy fruit may be soaked in water so that the fruit will ferment and separate from the seed. Separation can be hastened by manually pressing the fruit. Viable seed settles to the bottom of the container, while the pulp rises to the top or is suspended in the water. Some species require chemical separation of the flesh from the seed. Typically, the seed of fleshy fruits should be sown soon after the flesh is removed.

Some woody-fruited species such as Banksia ericifolia require high temperatures to release their seed.

The cones can be placed in an oven at 80–100°C for 30 minutes, with the door partially open. The valves should open, if not, they can be left in the oven until they do.

Cleaning and extracting

After drying, the seeds can be separated from the fruit or other debris by shaking, sieving or winnowing.

The seed should now be adequately clean, dry and ready for storing.

Storing and recording

A good storage system will help retain seed viability and protect it from insects, mice and birds.

The ideal container is clean, dry, vermin proof and has a good seal. Each container should contain seed from only one species. Containers should be labelled with species name, collection site, collection date, collector’s name, and the number of parent plants from which the seed was collected. It may be desirable to add other information, depending on the project.

The optimum conditions for storing seed is in a fridge with a temperature of 1–5°C and a relative humidity of 4–8 percent, both with minimal fluctuations. When seed is not stored in a fridge, a sachet of silica gel crystals may be placed in the container (e.g. paper bag) to keep it dry.

Eucalypt seed has been known to remain viable for 20 years when stored at 4°C. Most seed can, however, be stored at room temperature (10–20°C) for several years, although with some loss of viability.

Useful references

The primary resource recommended is:

FloraBank www.florabank.org.au (the national FloraBank program contains 10 guidelines covering all aspects of native seed collection, collection ranges, cleaning, storage and recording, as well as other information).

Other resources

BRAIN 1996, Seed collecting workshop, Brisbane Rainforest Action and Information Network, www.brisrain.webcentral.com.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=278

Department of the Environment and Heritage 2004 Be smart with seed https://www.environment.gov.au/land/publications/native-seed.html

Ralph M 1993, Seed collection of Australian native plants for revegetation, tree planting and direct seeding, Murray Ralph Sweedman L & Merritt D (eds) 2006, Australian seeds: a guide to their collection, identification and biology, CSIRO Publishing

The information above was originally published Office of Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet NSW.

59–61 Goulburn Street, Sydney

PO Box A290, Sydney South 1232

p: 02 9995 5000

e: info@environment.nsw.gov.au w: www.environment.nsw.gov.au

ISBN 978 1 74293 318 4 OEH 2011/0661

Key sources are:

1: Sheahan M (ed) 1998 VegNotes 3.2 Seed collecting Murray Catchment Management Committee and Department of Land & Water Conservation

2: Brodie L, & Ondinea D 1997 Seed Collection from bushland reserves, Native Seed Savers News, Winter 1997.

Other sources include the references listed and contributions from various individuals.

Take Action:

• If you’d like to join the group, contact the Bushcare officer Tracy Abbas on 4780 5623 or email tabbas@bmcc.nsw.gov.au

• Volunteer with the Planetary Health Bushcare Group on the first Saturday of the month

• Learn more about native seed collecting at https://www.florabank.org.au/

KLAMATH, California — The Pacific Ocean fog hung densely over the narrow mouth of the Klamath River in this coastal rainforest in northern California. Redwood, Douglas fir and alder disappeared into the mist. Seals bobbed nearby, hungry and waiting. An osprey swooped overhead, breakfast clenched in its claws.

It was late July, 2024. The salmon run wouldn’t start for several months. But a few chinook salmon arrived early, some poached by birds and mammals, some caught in nets by Yurok fishing from their johnboats.

Key Points:

• Four dams are now down on the Upper Klamath River in northern California in the largest river restoration project in U.S. history. But a rarely mentioned cold-water creek is essential to restoring health to what was once the third-largest salmon run on the West Coast of North America.

• Blue Creek is located just 25 km (16 mi) from the mouth of the Lower Klamath at the Pacific Ocean. Critically, it’s the first cold-water refuge for migrating salmon that enables the fish to cool down, survive, and move farther upriver to spawn. The dams and logging have damaged this important watershed for decades.

• The Yurok, California’s largest Indigenous tribe, lost ownership of Blue Creek to westward U.S. expansion in the late 1800s. In 2002, a timber company, negotiating with the Yurok, agreed to sell back the 19,000-hectare (47,100-acre) watershed to the tribe.

• It took Western Rivers Conservancy, an Oregon-based NGO, nearly two decades to raise the $60 million needed to buy the watershed. In a historic transition, Blue Creek returns this spring to the Yurok for conservation in its entirety. The tribe considers the watershed a sacred place.

Pergish Carlson, a river guide and Yurok — a member of California’s largest Indigenous tribe — captained a modern motorboat on that morning. We were there to try and get a glimpse of the future, to witness a crucial ecological element connected to the largest river restoration project in U.S. history: the return of nearby Blue Creek and its vast watershed to the Yurok Nation.

But Carlson couldn’t help but look to the past; it helped him savor the renewal that lay upstream, he told Mongabay.

“Not that many years ago,” he said, “the Indian people, my people, could only fish here at night, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. We were run off by the government if we tried to fish earlier. This was always our river, our salmon. But the daylight hours were reserved for sport fishermen.”

That seems a small indignation compared to what happened to the Yurok, and all tribes from coast to coast, with the 1887 passage of the Dawes Act during the administration of President Grover Cleveland. The act gave the U.S. government, eager to accommodate western migration, the legal authority to strip tribes of their own land and waterways, and, by extension, their culture and identity, their hearts and their spirit.

A day prior, as we sat with Joseph James, chair of the 6,000-member Yurok Nation, he spoke of the past and future.

“We as Indigenous people have suffered generations of trauma,” he told Mongabay. “I can look backwards, but it’s not going to do no good. Things are changing and we’re telling our story. We are acknowledging our partnerships and celebrating things we’ve made happen, things that maybe people thought would never happen.”

Back at the mouth of the Klamath near the ocean, Carlson turned his boat upstream. We were accompanied by members of the Portland, Oregon-based Western Rivers Conservancy, the Yurok’s most important partner in this rich but diminished ecosystem. We were heading just 25 kilometers (16 miles) to an ecologically vital location: the cold-water mouth of Blue Creek and its 19,000-hectare (47,100-acre) watershed. In recent years, more than 12,950 hectares (32,000 acres) had already been returned to the Yurok.

Now in early June, in what stands as a remarkable success story for the environment, for what was once the third-largest salmon run on the West Coast and for the Yurok tribe itself, the last 6,000-hectare (15,000-acre) section of the watershed returns to its rightful heirs who occupied it for millennia before the Dawes Act. It is the largest land-back conservation deal in California history, according to Western Rivers.

And all it took was two decades of relentless work, pioneering funding tools, and $60 million paid to a timber company that first offered to sell the land back to the tribe in 2002.

A generation later, the deal is finally closing.

Arriving at Blue Creek, its frigid waters crystal clear, Carlson said: “This creek right here, this is the lifeline of the whole river — for the salmon, for water quality, and spiritually, for the Yurok people. This is a sacred spot.”

Blue Creek: ‘The biggest step’

Barry McCovey has been director of the Yurok’s fisheries department for a quarter-century. He’s intimately familiar with the Lower Klamath and its many creeks and tributaries (the entire river length starting in the Cascades in Oregon runs 423 km, or 263 mi). Since fall 2024,  most attention has focused on the Upper Klamath and the historic removal of four dams that has enabled the river’s free flow for the first time in more than 100 years.

McCovey has a broad view of the ecosystem. He knows how crucial dam removal is to restoring health to the Lower Klamath, “but it’s just one step,” he told Mongabay. “There are many steps in this journey to get to the ultimate goal of balance and restoration of the river system.”

As for Blue Creek, just 37 km (23 mi) long and, at its mouth, barely a few feet deep, McCovey  said, the reclamation and restoration of the creek “is a massive step in the right direction, maybe the biggest step of all.”

The reason is simple. Salmon — chinook, steelhead, coho — are cold-water fish spending much of their adult lives in the salty Pacific. When they swim up the fresh-water Klamath to spawn in spring and fall, their body temperatures climb perilously by almost 13° Celsius (23° Fahrenheit) in just a few miles in warmer river water.

This would be fatal if not for the pool at the mouth of Blue Creek, the first cold-water refuge that’s a stopover for every salmon heading farther upstream. When juvenile salmon swim downstream to the ocean in June and July, Blue Creek is their last temperature-adjusting refuge before entering the ocean.

In essence, no Blue Creek means no salmon — a reality that would impact the very survival of the Yurok themselves.

“Around 40,000 fish will return to the Klamath Basin this year,” McCovey predicted; he snorkels to help do fish counts himself. “The average was around 120,000 fish in 1978. But actually, 120,000 was a number really depressed by the dams, the timber industry, overfishing, water diversion for agriculture and now climate change. That 120,000 was a fraction of what fish runs were historically.”

Blue Creek suffered along with this. Logging roads and timbering amid the 19,000-hectare watershed dumped silt into the creek, where it remains piled up near the mouth. Shade was reduced, creek flows sped up, and water levels dropped. The creek even warmed by more than 12°C (22°F). Salmon populations dropped as a result.

Richard Nelson, who heads the Yurok’s watershed restoration and roads department, told Mongabay an enormous amount of work is needed to “heal” the acreage above the creek wrought by decades of timbering. Such work includes selective tree thinning to reduce wildfire fuel, recontouring miles of logging roads and swales to mitigate runoff and strategically placing dead trees in the creek to slow the flow, recharge groundwater and create aquatic habitats.

In the coming generations, active Yurok land management intends to deepen the creek and restore the entire watershed to the biodiverse old-growth forest it once was. Endangered species such as the spotted owl (Strix occidentalis) and marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) may rebound along with the salmon.

“My grandchildren couldn’t retire out here [before] doing all the work that needs to be done,” Nelson said, looking years into the future. But he stressed that such labor is an opportunity, a privilege. “Back in the day, it was pie in the sky to think we’d ever get this land back. Now here we are, and the dams are … gone, too. It’s a phenomenal thing.”

The cost of saving a watershed

The opportunity was first broached in 2002.

Green Diamond Resource Company, a sixth-generation forest products firm once known as the Simpson Logging Company, enjoyed the flip side of the Dawes Act coin. A tragic land-stripping ordeal for Indigenous tribes near the river became a lucrative business opportunity for settlers in forest-rich northern California. Green Diamond still controls more than 121,400 wooded hectares (300,000 acres) in the region and along stretches of the Klamath.

Galen Schuler, the company’s former general counsel, tells Mongabay the legacy of the Dawes Act was not forgotten in deciding to make the Blue Creek watershed available for sale.

“Here we are in the 21st century, a family-owned company that acquired this land in the post-World War II era from a bunch of different companies,” said Schuler, who retired in April. “A lot of it is inside the Yurok reservation. A huge, huge bunch of it. And here you have the largest tribe in California, and they hardly own any of their reservation at all. We knew they had ambitions for that, so we started talking.”

It quickly became clear that Blue Creek was a priority for the Yurok, for the ecological health of the salmon and the spiritual health of the tribe. Talks progressed, haltingly.

“You know, it’s difficult to be in tribal leadership and do a deal with a timber company,” Schuler said. “Everyone is wondering if the timber company is taking advantage. There’s a trust thing. We were fortunate to meet with really good Yurok leaders who wanted this deal, but they saw the benefit of a conservation group getting involved.”

It wasn’t just optics. Green Diamond wanted fair-market value for the 19,000-hectare watershed: $60 million. The Yurok never could have raised that enormous sum on their own. Starting in 2006, Western Rivers Conservancy took on the fundraising challenge. As a sign of trust, Green Diamond stopped logging in the watershed.

Sue Doroff co-founded Western Rivers in 1988 and retired as president in mid-2024. For her last 18 years with the conservation group, raising the funds to secure Blue Creek was her primary focus. It was complicated. It was long and difficult. And in late July, 2024, standing with her feet in the creek, she said the complex, innovative efforts were paying off.

“Sometimes to save a creek, you have to buy it,” she told Mongabay. “We are in the business of forever; that’s how we feel about the Yurok taking over as stewards of this vital creek and watershed.”

A novel, complicated deal

In interviews with Doroff, she made clear that the range of financing tools, including California carbon credits as well as federal loans and foundation grants rarely used in conservation projects, made for a complex challenge.

“When we first took on this project, we were all in,” Doroff said, “but we saw no clear way to raise that much money. We had to be creative. In time, we figured out how to get it done.”

Travois, a Kansas City, Missouri-based company that helps fund economic development on Indigenous lands in the U.S., originally helped Western Rivers access $3.85 million in new markets tax credits, a federal program. Such credits are typically used to fund real estate projects in low-income communities. At the time, using them for conservation was unusual. Western Rivers was later able to use those tax credits to leverage millions more from other financing partners across the country.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a revolving loan fund to help tribes reduce pollution impacts. It’s not usually used for conservation. But Doroff worked to qualify Blue Creek for $18.75 million, then lined up funding sources to repay the loan. Millions in loans and grants also came from California’s carbon credits program.

“It was the first time we ever did a loan where we promised to repay the loan with proceeds from carbon credits estimated from the watershed,” Doroff said.

As a result, Western Rivers paid Green Diamond in full in 2018. Loan guarantees required the nonprofit to hold most of the land for several years to demonstrate to lenders that it would be conserved. The last 6,000 hectares of the watershed are going back to the Yurok this spring.

In the end,  all that money bought the Yurok the entire Blue Creek watershed, most of it divided between a salmon sanctuary and a community forest.

‘Buying back our own land’

Joseph James, the Yurok chair, paused when asked about the total cost, choosing his words diplomatically.

“You have to smile a little bit when you realise you’re buying back your own land, right?” he said. “Yes, it’s a hefty price tag, but it’s also priceless.”

James added that “there are not enough words” to describe the importance of Blue Creek to his people. The salmon are such a big part of it. But reclamation transcends nature.

“Blue Creek is also cultural for us,” he said. “It’s a place of higher prayer that we go to. It’s important to our members from a spiritual standpoint, from a wellness standpoint, and even when our members leave this earth. We use the area via boats to transport them.”

When tribal elders are taken to the ridgetops of the watershed and told “everything you see is yours again,” they shake their heads in disbelief, their eyes welling up. Not long ago, they would’ve been arrested for trespassing. Now their tears tell a different story.

“There were times over the past 20 years when we weren’t sure this would happen,” James said. “But we never gave up hope. We took a stance and said, ‘We love our river. We love our fish. We love our natural resources. We love our culture. And we’re not shy about showing it.’ That’s what Blue Creek means to us. That’s who we are.”

This story has been reproduced from Mongabay News under the Creative Commons license.

Story by Justin Catanoso, a professor of journalism at Wake Forest University in the United States.

Read the original article here >