How to Save the Rainforest and While Enjoying a Cuppa!

by Spencer Shaw

In a world in which we are bombarded with images and stories of environmental destruction, it’s all too easy to feel powerless and shut off from how we can make the world a better place. We are however a fortunate generation, in that we can make a real difference to the preservation of our local rainforests and all of the animals that call them home.  Best of all you can enjoy the benefits of saving our local rainforests while reclining in the comfort of your favourite chair on your back verandah with a cuppa and a good book!

Your backyard is the frontline when it comes to saving our local rainforests. Our local rainforests are unique, but they are under threat due to the isolation caused by the clearing for farmland in the past. Our rainforest remnants such as Mary Cairncross Scenic Reserve are precious remnants of the great rainforests that once covered large areas of the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.  

Now to save you some time… while saving the rainforest. Too many backyards on the hinterland have too much grass. All of that grass needs mowing, which takes time, uses precious resources and of course contributes to the increase carbon in the atmosphere. As a result of all this grass our local rainforests have become fragmented islands, isolated by oceans of grassland.  So here is a win-win situation for the environment and you, the time poor landholder. By revegetating or landscaping with local rainforest plants, we see an increase in the amount of habitat for our local flora and fauna and you reduce the time you spend as a slave to your mower.

Property boundaries are a good place to start planting, just make sure you don’t pick anything too big or plant too close to the boundary. A Strangler Fig planted a metre off the fence line and ripping up foundations and septic systems in the years to come, may not be conducive to neighbourhood harmony!

Our local rainforests are also home to an awesome range of beautiful and interesting plants that include groundcovers, vines, shrubs and small trees. There are local natives, for all situations, all gardens, even small town blocks!

So do yourself and the environment a favour, ask yourself do we realy need all that lawn (and if you decide no), then come and visit us at Forest Heart Local Native Plants and hunt down some of our great local rainforest plants and an amazing array of plants from a range of other ecosystems from the coast to mountain tops and from across South East Queensland.