The Society has been active in local conservation issues since 1966 and is well networked with the broader conservation movement across NSW.
In addition to conservation issues, the Society staffs a visitor centre on weekends at the Field of Mars Wildlife Refuge. All welcome.
BIRD WALKS – Sunday 25 August, departing from the Visitor Centre at 8.30am & 10.30am.
Our resident expert Cathy Goswell will lead these walks, which are always popular. Prior booking is
essential – email alfred.vincent@bigpond.com or phone Alfred on 98796067. For safety reasons and to provide the best experience we limit numbers attending these walks. Please wear appropriate clothing with good walking shoes and, if you have them, a good pair of binoculars.
VISIT BY JEROME LAXALE, MP FOR BENNELONG – rescheduled!...
Thanks and apologies to members who came for the previously scheduled visit, which was postponed at short notice when Jerome fell ill. His visit will now be Saturday 31 August, 10am at the Visitor Centre. Morning tea will be available.
PRE-ELECTION FORUM – Saturday 31 August, 2pm in the Environmental Education Centre
With local government (Council) elections being held on Saturday 14 September, we plan to hold one of our traditional forums for candidates to expound their ambitions to achieve and support positive environmental outcomes.
MUSIC ON MARS – Sunday 22 September, 2pm
Members will receive early notification with further details.
RYDE DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY (RDHS) MEETING – 10am Saturday 8 June 2024
“History of the Field of Mars Reserve” – talk by Kelvin Ward, early Secretary of RHHFFPS
Our Society hosted the RDHS monthly meeting in the Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre. Kelvin and his wife Julie are still Society members, and they travelled from the Central Coast for this occasion. Kelvin spoke about early moves to start our Society in 1965, and the campaign in 1966 to save the Field of Mars bushland from becoming a major garbage tip. The meeting was well attended by RDHS members, and it was good to see some RHHFFPS members also present. A transcript of the talk is available to read at the Visitor Centre.
WILDFLOWER WALKS – Sunday 21 July, departing from the Visitor Centre 10am & 2pm.Morning group on their way. Photo by Lindsay Mar
Wildflowers in the Reserve were disappointing after our particularly wet winter. And we had high winds on the day before our walks!
Nevertheless, we were treated to some interesting plants, with a highlight being a colourful eggs-and-bacon bush (Dillwynia retorta) on the Sand Track just past Cemetery Creek 2.Eggs-and-bacon in the afternoon
Among the variety of plants we saw flowering were a mountain devil (Lambertia formosa), wattles (Acacia spp.), snow heath (Woollsia pungens), grevilleas (Grevillea buxifolia and G. sericea), dwarf flannel flowers (Actinotus Morning group on their way helianthi), rice Photo by Lindsay Mar flowers (Pimelea Linifolia), Hakea sericea, and Boronia ledifolia.
YARNKNIT RUG RAFFLE PRIZE
Donated once again by Holy Spirit Yarn Group, you could be the lucky winner when the raffle is drawn at the AGM in early 2025. The handmade article is suitable for both winter and summer use. Keep it yourself, give it to a family member or friend or donate to a worthy organisation. Funds raised support the Society and the organisations we support.
Tickets are available at the Visitors Centre or buy online by transfer to our Bendigo Bank account: RYDE HUNTERS HILL FLORA AND FAUNA PRESERVATION SOCIETY INC, BSB 633-000, Account number 190716589.
Include your name and “raffle” in the transaction description, and please email your contact details to rhhffps@gmail.com
One ticket for $2, Three tickets for $5
In his book ‘The Earth Transformed’ Peter Frankopan describes how the geography and climate of the Earth has been transformed from 4,500 million years ago to the present times. Peter explains that up to the recent Ice Age which ended 11,500 years ago the geography and climate was changed dramatically because of major events such as massive volcanic eruptions, meteor strikes and extreme solar activity.
For the period from the last Ice Age the earth has experienced a ‘Goldilocks’ era where the temperature on the planet was not too hot and not too cold, just like the porridge in the Goldilocks and Three Bears children’s story. During this period agriculture and human settlement has flourished owing to the suitable conditions.
Massive volcano eruptions and meteor strikes as occurred in prehistoric times could still occur and cause the end of the current Goldilocks period. Peter points out that when Lord Byron, Percy Shelley and Mary Shelley were holidaying at Lake Geneva in Switzerland in 1816 and where Shelley wrote the Frankenstein novel, the sky was darkened by particles from a massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia on 5 April 1815. The impacts were felt around
the world such that 1816 became known as the year without summer. This had a drastic impact on agriculture and human survival but eventually the sky cleared.
Peter looks at the rise and fall of civilisations across all continents since the evolution of agriculture and large human settlements that the Goldilocks period has allowed. The evidence is that human exploitation of the soils and water during this period has been associated with environmental disasters and the collapse of civilisations.
Since the Industrial Revolution the success of new technologies in agriculture, industry and science more widely has led to the rise of prosperous societies and an increase in the human population from 795 million at that time to over 8,100 million today.
Unlike the period before the last Ice Age the planet’s geography and climate is now being changed by human activity. What can we do about this? Influencing decision makers at every level to recognise, take into account and address the causes of the impact on our natural environment is essential. Local Government elections are on Saturday 14 September this year and the Society is organising an election forum where members, supporters and the local community can query local candidates and urge action. It will be held at the Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre on Saturday 31 August, starting at 2pm.
Frank Breen, President
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.
In the mid 1960s, with an increasing amount of waste needing disposal, Ryde Council looked to an expansion of the small tip in the Field of Mars Reserve. Council proposed to pipe Buffalo and Stranger's Creeks to facilitate a landfill area to a depth of up to 15m feet which could then be re-developed into playing fields. Local residents united to form the Anti-tip Action Group and lobbied to reverse Council's plans for a tip at the Field of Mars. The tip was moved to Porter's Creek which to this day still requires substantial funds to control the environmental damage arising from past use as a tipsite. With the Field of Mars saved the Society was established in January 1966.
In September 1966, Ryde Council advised the Society that it agreed to their proposal to development of the Field of Mars Reserve as a flora and fauna sanctuary. Hard work over following decades has seen restoration of old degraded areas of the Field of Mars and protection of the area as a Wildlife Refuge. A Visitors Centre was built and then the Environmental Education Centre which is visited by about 10,000 students each year.
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