Throughout the course, Sally was incredibly inspired by the existing initiatives already out there in the community. She really wanted to support Heartscapes, an inspiring initiative to create a community driven wildlife corridor for native pollinating insects, connecting the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne to Westgate Park.
Where did your interest in the environment come from?
I think my interest was always there. As a kid growing up on a farm, I remember presenting my parents a detailed plan for planting hundreds and hundreds of native trees (which they did!). Thriving and diverse habitats are important to me, although there is always so much for me to learn and understand.
What made you get involved in the course?
I recently moved to the area and wanted to connect to the community here and take action locally.
I joined some of the local groups and newsletters and of course checked out what the libraries had to offer. I then saw the Environmental Leaders course advertised in the Sustainability eNewsletter and decided to apply for the course. I really liked the idea of a sustained 10-week opportunity to meet people and grow networks.
What did you decide to take action on from the course?
I explored lots of ideas but in the end, I decided rather than creating something new of my own I would support one of the great initiatives already out there. All of us can create meaningful change when we contribute our available time, money or resources to sustaining momentum and growth of what already exists, rather than duplicate and start something new.
A few months ago, I attended a City of Port Philip talk at St Kilda Library by Emma Cutting on street gardening. During the talk Emma introduced the Melbourne Pollinator Corridor initiative and I was so inspired!
I remember leaving that workshop and just thinking how can I get more and more people to help this vision thrive, particularly when so much of the hard work in initiating a project of this scale has been done.
What is the pollinator corridor about?
It's about transforming barren public and public-private land that connect from Royal Botanic Gardens to Westgate Park into - what Emma calls - 'gardens of buzzing, wriggling beauty'.
There are now 46 gardens of the Melbourne Pollinator Corridor (MPC) up and running and they are aiming for 200 by the end of this decade. There have even been blue banded bees spotted at 6 of the sites!
It is supported by volunteers who roll up their sleeves to prepare the ground, plant, water, and maintain gardens on a Friday morning and Saturday afternoon. It is so easy to volunteer and drop in and out based on your time and resources, and it is a lovely chance to connect with other delightful people!
Last year alone, we created a huge 450m2 Melbourne Pollinator Corridor site at Port Melbourne Primary, taking the total amount of barren land transformed to over 1,600m2.
How do you plan to support the Melbourne Pollinator Corridor?
Right now, growing and equipping the volunteer base is where the greatest benefit (and joy) is. I will be:
- Designing and creating content for the pilot of the MPC Volunteer Education Program. The Program which will give each participant the opportunity to experience and learn about the innovative, grassroots, ecology-centred approach used to manage and expand the Melbourne Pollinator Corridor.
- Supporting Emma in running a 3-hour Street Gardening for Beginners Workshop which includes visiting some of the MPC sites and sharing practical learnings about the journey to bring them to life.
What did you get out of the Environmental Leaders program?
Take action - no matter how small it might seem to you - don't just think about taking action!
Each week we would all list any actions we took around sustainability, community building and share them collectively. It was extraordinary to hear people talk about their small acts of kindness and actions to make their environment much more sustainable. It was so motivating to list out all the things we were doing and very satisfying to use that momentum that the group created, one small action at a time.
If anyone wants to get involved, what should they do?
There's a number of ways to get involved in the Melbourne Pollinator Corridor. There's volunteering in the gardens with Heartscapes
