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.
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
On the Saturday after World Environment Day, the RDHS monthly meeting will be held in the Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre. It will feature a talk about the formation and early activities of RHHFFPS and its members from our early years in the 1960s. You will also learn how the Field of Mars Reserve’s bushland was almost lost forever!
In addition to the RDHS, all RHHFFPS members are welcome to attend.
A barbecue-and-salad lunch will be provided at the Visitor Centre afterwards.
WILDFLOWER WALKS – Sunday 21 July
We have become accustomed to great displays of wildflowers in the Reserve and these are usually at their best during July! Guided walks will be led by Society members; more details will be notified in the June edition of Wallumetta, and by email closer to the date.
BIRD WALKS – Sunday 25 August Our resident expert Cathy Goswell will lead these walks, departing from the Visitor Centre at 8.30am and 10.30am.
PRE-ELECTION FORUM – Saturday 31 August With local government (Council) elections being held on 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 - back by popular acclaim!
CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA DAY Sunday 3 March 2024
Coal seam gas well in Queensland - photo from The Standard
Led by Alfred Vincent, our Society held a successful private Clean Up Australia Day event, with our team of members clearing rubbish from Buffalo Creek and its adjacent shores.
Meanwhile, the nearest public site was managed once again by 1st East Ryde Scout Group, with over 40 members and others who cleared 20 bags of rubbish – mostly plastic wrapping and bottles – from around Magdala Park and the Lane Cove River Walk between Epping Road and Sugarloaf.
Photos by Evelyn, Waste@Ryde (City of Ryde Council) Published with permissions from members and parents.
RHHFFPS AGM
This was held on Saturday 16 March at the Field of Mars Visitor Centre. Our annual reports were presented, and afternoon tea served afterwards.
The winning prize-winning ticket was drawn in our raffle – see more details on the last page.
On Sunday 24 March the Parramatta River Catchment Group celebrated the 10 years since the start of its program ‘Our Living River’. The vision was to make the Parramatta River swimmable again by 2025 and the celebration was at Bayview Park Canada Bay. This is the site of the latest swimming spot opened under the program.
The vision implied that if the river was swimmable again it would mean that its environmental health has been restored. There is more work to be done and more swim sites are planned with the swim site at Bedlam Bay Hunters Hill to be opened before long.
The Society actively participates in the PRCG and in particular in connection with biodiversity matters. The PRCG meets quarterly for reports and setting priorities on progress towards meeting its vision for the river. Information about the activities of the PRCG can be found on the website www.ourlivingriver.com.au
A major initiative getting underway is the River Bank Naturalisation and Planning Priority Corridors project. This aims to restore native vegetation in priority areas along the river bank and involves three stages. The first due for completion in June 2024 is to conduct a literature review, undertake riparian catchment mapping, and identify preliminary priority sites for restoration and to develop riparian planning controls/LEP clauses for member councils.
The second stage due for completion in June 2025 is to finalise planning policy and controls, conclude selection of riparian restoration project sites, develop concept designs, and coordinate approvals for the capital works program.
The third stage due for completion in June 2026 is to undertake capital works at priority sites.
The Society is participating in the project because river bank naturalisation is a high priority for biodiversity. Ten years of effort is coming to fruition and as evidenced by the river bank naturalisation project, the good work of the PRCG will need to continue for some time yet and is worthy of our continued support.
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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