The volunteers of the Blue Mountains Wildplant Rescue Service marked 20 years working to preserve the biodiversity of Blue Montains flora last month.
On Saturday, February 21, 70 past and present members gathered at the Palais Royale in Katoomba - exactly 20 years since the inaugural launch in 1995, attended by then Blue Mountains MP Bob Debus. Current MP Roza Sage MP attended the anniversary event.
Founder, Mikla Lewis OAM, was MC for the afternoon, introducing four members from the early years of the group.
Wyn Jones stressed the importance of awareness of our unique botanical heritage and our responsibility to pass this on to the next generations.
Mary Moody reminisced about doing plant rescues and the Gardening Australia programs about Blue Mountains Wildplant Rescue that she had hosted.
Using his experience from working with the service and with "Trees for Life in South Australia", Ian Lett spoke about the strength of community groups that develop dynamically with changes in membership and demands over time.
Jenny Kee, who designed the group's waratah logo, inspired members with her enthusiasm and love for the environment and particularly for her bond with her totem, the waratah.
Current chairwoman Christine Belshaw spoke about the amount of hard work that volunteers put in to producing thousands of plants each year.
Anne Rickwood thanked the group's sponsors, Peter Poulos Real Estate for "plant of the month" and Scenic World for workshop advertising. All money from sales is returned to the nursery production leaving very little for infrastructure.
"We are very grateful to Odessa O'Brien, director of corporate relations for Landcare Australia, who understands our problem [attracting funding grants] and has helped during the past three years," said Anne Rickwood. "This includes a Westpac Foundation Village community nursery grant. Tanya McLean explained that this grant is designed to not only help us but also to give work experience to people of our Blue Mountains community who need it. So far we have volunteers who are disadvantaged in various ways and they are all doing an excellent job as are others who have joined us recently. Our thanks to both Landcare Australia and the Westpac Foundation."
The afternoon concluded with the presentation of awards to Christine Belshaw and Tanya McLean.
