Wildlife corridor formally opened

A crowd of 100 friends of the Crommelin Native Arboretum in Pearl Beach celebrated the opening of the new wildlife corridor on Sunday, August 19.

Arboretum patron Ms Carol Serventy cut the ribbon and formally opened the tract of land.

Ms Serventy's late husband, Vincent Serventy, was one of Australia's most outspoken wildlife conservationists who also resided in Pearl Beach and advocated the corridor.

Former Gosford mayor Mr Robert Bell was there to help honour the event which he himself helped set in motion in 1991.

Others present included Member for Robertson Ms Deborah O'Neill and Member for Gosford Mr Chris Holstein, as well as representatives from the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Plans for a wildlife corridor first began when it was discovered that proposed development of private land could negatively affect the adjacent University of Sydney research station as well as the arboretum.

Plans were made to try to acquire the 10 hectare parcel of land for environmental protection as a wildlife corridor, joining two areas of bushland.

After years of negotiations, Gosford Council acquired half of the land.

The site was formerly a farm but, for the last seven years, Arboretum volunteers have been planting native shrubs and seedlings, particularly those indigenous to the area and favored by local wildlife.

After the acquisition in 2002, there followed 18 months of clearing the area, creating fire trails and paths and adopting a landscaping strategy.

Plantings included 750 major canopy trees, along with 104 understorey trees, 440 ground cover plants, and over 7500 tubes of native grasses.

In his short keynote speech, Mr Bell emphasised the important role of the Arboretum and its new wildlife corridor to the larger community.

"If you have the vision and can share the vision, then everything changes.

"You actually make the community vision more empowered because it can believe in itself and can convince governments.

"People who come to Pearl Beach can then take that back to their communities and say 'Look, they can make it happen, they can create a whole community around the environment.'

"All sorts of people from all different walks of life can feel as though they can make a contribution which allows continuation from one generation to the other."

The August 19 event also coincided with the 36th anniversary celebrations of the Arboretum which was founded in 1976.

Email, 21 Aug 2012

Esther Beaton, Crommelin Native Arboretum

Photo: Duncan Bridel