Ally Ford and Wayne Mulholland came to their property at Swift Creek, Gunaikurnai Country, over 25 years ago. It’s home to a patch of this critically endangered ecosystem. After working and travelling around the world, Ally and Wayne found themselves based in Melbourne and looking for a place with water.
“What’s special about it is the richness of the habitat,” says Ally. “The trees are so big and old. You walk through White Box forest hundreds and hundreds of years old and you feel how ancient it is. People came to this area searching for gold in the creeks, but the gold is all around us – nature is the gold.”
One of the large boxes is so big it takes at least four people to wrap their arms around it. Some of the old trees sucker from branches that bend down towards the ground. In one gully, what appears to be a grove is actually a single tree.
“The limbs grow up and down like serpents and they take root and grow more little trees,” says Wayne
The property is a haven for wildlife. Emus and wombats walk fearlessly by. Rainbow Bee-eaters arrive each spring and nest in tunnels alongside the creek. Last Christmas, Ally and Wayne spotted a dozen Wedge-tailed Eagles – several families and their offspring – spiraling over a gully as they descended to scavenge.
Descended from generations of environmentalists, care for nature has always been in Ally and Wayne’s blood. While at school in New Zealand, Wayne helped rescue kiwis from forest slated to be cleared for agriculture. Both are now artists, Ally and Wayne express the beauty of nature in their work.
Descended from generations of environmentalists, care for nature has always been in Ally and Wayne’s blood. While at school in New Zealand, Wayne helped rescue kiwis from forest slated to be cleared for agriculture. Both are now artists, Ally and Wayne express the beauty of nature in their work.
“We’d rather be part of the ecosystem than against it,” says Wayne. “Over 25 years we’ve built up trust between us and the animals. They’re doing their thing, and we’re just fitting in with them.”
Trust for Nature is working with landholders to protect and restore the grassy woodlands, including planting over 700 woodland plants on cleared areas of Ally and Wayne’s property.
“The point is to extend the ecological community, and rebuild the structure and diversity that was there before back up of the site,” says Mihkel.
On previously revegetated areas, Ally and Wayne have already seen wildlife return, including birds that have become threatened in south east Australia’s woodlands like Diamond Firetails.
In 2011, they protected the property forever with a conservation covenant.
In 2011, they protected the property forever with a conservation covenant.
“It was wonderful to see someone as excited as we are about the habitat,” Ally says. “It’s nice to have some assistance, to work with people who are on the same level of appreciation and know what we’re talking about. It’s like being part of a family.”
Connecting to other covenants and reserves, their property helps create a thoroughfare for wildlife.
“We wanted to know that when our time comes we’ve done something that will last forever. This habitat is so rare and valuable – not just to us, but to the whole nation,” says Wayne.
