Welcome to the Ryde - Hunter's Hill Flora and Fauna Preservation Society.
The Society has been active in local conservation issues since 1966 and is well networked with the broader conservation movement across NSW.
The Society's Constitution states its Aims and Objectives as:
a. The education of the members and the community, particularly in the local area, in nature conservation and protection of the environment;
b. To promote ecologically sustainable land use and development;
c. To promote nature conservation including an adequate system of national parks, wilderness areas, nature reserves, wildlife refuges and corridors and urban bushland reserves; adequate protection measures for native wildlife;
d. Achieving satisfactory measures to safeguard the environment from all forms of pollution to ensure clean air, clean water and a healthy environment;
e. To work for the permanent retention and conservation of all natural areas in the local district and an increase in the area set aside for nature conservation and
f. To undertake the management of the Field of Mars Reserve with Ryde City Council as a major conservation project
We have a regular newsletter Wallumetta which is issued six times a year which attempts to update members on both local environmental issues and issues of wider impact. Our volunteer members keep the Visitors Centre open each weekend. Please contact us if you have concerns about threats to our local natural areas and the precious native fauna which depend on our sensitive bushland areas and waterways.
What's On
The Society organizes regular events at the Field of Mars throughout the year. Generally these are on the first Saturday of the month though this may vary due to speaker availability.
Forthcoming Events:
Saturday, 3 May 2014, Visitor Centre, Field of Mars Reserve
AUTUMN IN THE FIELD OF MARS: AN AFTERNOON OF GUIDED WALKS
The program:
2.30pm: Autumn walk in the Field of Mars
3.30pm: Afternoon tea
4.30pm: Late afternoon walk
5.00pm: BBQ
Members and non-members are all welcome. Please bring a hat, closed shoes and water. Children under 12 should be accompanied. A small donation would be appreciated, to cover the cost of catering.
For further info, contact rhhffps@gmail.com or Alfred on 9879 6067 (if no answer, leave a message). To help us keep track of numbers, please register for one or both walks and/or the BBQ by contacting the above phone or email.
Saturday 31 May, 2.30pm at the Environmental Education Centre, Field of Mars Reserve
MIGRATORY BUSH BIRDS AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE SYDNEY REGION
A presentation by Peter and Judy Smith
Find out more about those noisy birds that sometimes visit your suburb during summer. Why do they come? Are they changing their visiting times?
Peter and Judy are consultant ecologists, familiar with changes in bird records in Sydney and the Blue Mountains over the past four decades. Since the 1980s, they have analysed the changes in arrival and departure dates of migratory bush birds at their Blaxland home, and published the results in the journal Emu in 2012. These results will be presented in their talk. Peter and Judy are also familiar with changes in bird records for the lower Lane Cove River valley, where they lived before their move to Blaxland.
There will be an opportunity for questions. Tea will follow at the Visitor Centre. As usual at our events, a small donation to cover costs would be appreciated.
Further information: via email: rhhffps@gmail.com or phone: Brigid on 9816 3168.
The 31 May presentation is our usual monthly activity which would normally be held early in June. Hence the next monthly event is planned for early July. Watch this space!