Cat Ferrie and Murray McKay
First of all, Cat commented on our beautiful meeting location. She loved the grass, trees, river and birds. Birds were particularly pertinent to her talk about the RCG2 Swan to Surf Project.
Her focus is principally Carnaby cockatoos, which are an endangered species due to bush and trees disappearing with housing development. This results in a lack of food for these amazing black cockatoos. Cat wants her grandchildren and generations to come to know the Carnabys.
From a tiny idea an action plan grew, with Cat becoming a community manager, attending a satellite group meeting once a month in her role as a Rotarian. Cat would love more Rotary Clubs to become involved in planting tiny forests, created by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki.
Miyawaki forests can be planted in areas as small as 150 sq ft. Forest pockets can be created in a parking bay, tennis court, or street verge.
Schools are very supportive of the project, because they often have patches of unused land and the children can learn from re-wilding so that the vegetation attracts birds and insects.
So far, there are nine Rotary clubs involved in Miyawaki forests in their area. A mini forest takes three years to grow. It consists of five steps: Removing the top soil and replacing with compost; selecting natives specific to the area; mulching and watering.
There are some projected sites in Stuart Street, Northbridge and SCGH. Claremont Showground was keen but advised they would be building there within five years. Obviously planting the mini forest is a permanent fixture so the site had to be discarded.
Our club has planted a couple of mini forests, with the most recent coordinated by Gordon Dunbar in Brentwood.
Not only do they beautify the surroundings, but the trees reduce temperatures, improve environmental awareness and create food for birds and increase biodiversity.
Cat made the point that young people often will not join Rotary (the club) but will become enthusiastic about a Rotary project such as this.
Rex the black cockatoo made an appearance at the RCG2 Swan to Surf Project stall in Hyde Park and attracted 1000 people to come forward and learn about the movement and by extension, Rotary.
It’s always interesting and inspiring to hear of Rotary being involved in different projects. As Cat pointed out, if people are not interested in Rotary meetings, members can make ways of going out to meet them instead and spread the word about the service Rotary does in the community.