Forest recovery: a case study

LOCAL STORIES

Prepared by Kerri-Lee Harris
(13th Feb 2020)

The 5 hectares of forest that we call home was among the more than 5 million hectares of NSW forests burnt out this Summer. Like everyone, we are grieving the loss. But like the forest, we are slowly starting to recover.

We have been observing and recording the biodiversity of this forest for many years. We have a website where we regularly tell our stories. And we document our sightings on NatureMapr so that they are a permanent and public record of biodiversity.

The fire of 4th January completely devastated our home forest. When we returned on 9th January there was nothing green in sight. There were large numbers of ants and skinks, Sacred Kingfishers calling, White-winged Choughs and Lyrebirds digging through the ash. And very little else.

But things are changing quite quickly. There is much to celebrate.