Recreating the Country Published Book
Product 1 - Recreating the CountryA blueprint for the design of sustainable landscapes |
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Much is written about the need for connecting and expanding habitat to reverse the inexorable decline and disappearance of Australian plants and animals from rural landscapes. Integrating conservation and production has become the catchcry from foresters to dairy farmers. But what can landholders practically do? The answer, author Stephen Murphy asserts, is to turn to nature as our guide. We have to rethink our revegetation strategies to match the sophistication of natural design principles. Stephen, with his wife Lina, has run a successful native plants nursery in central Victoria for over 25 years. He believes that even the most well-intentioned shelterbelts, Landcare plantings or mixed species farm forests lack the features to make them rich in critical habitat for wildlife, let alone capable of self-perpetuation for centuries to come. Pale shadows of a natural grassland, woodland or forest, they are destined to fail as a wellspring for native plants and animals. At the heart of Recreating the Country are ten design principles, observed from nature, for land managers to apply in a new form of revegetation – the ‘biorich plantation.’ Integrated with other forms of vegetation, these would aim to enrich habitat potential across rural landscapes, not just for a lifetime, but in perpetuity. ”Steve Murphy, who, working amongst trees, observing, thinking, analysing, making hypotheses, recording and rethinking, and compiling this useful and gutsy book, has made an important contribution to our craft.” “In this well-researched and considered book, Stephen Murphy challenges us to ask what it would take for our plantation to make a real difference, forever. How wide must a shelterbelt be and what species must be included if it is to provide meaningful and sustainable habitats that will last well into the future?” |
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