Hawkesbury Nepean Landcare Network (HNLN) is caring for our country Dyarubbin and has been working with schools and green school networks within The Hills, Penrith, Hawkesbury and Blacktown areas to crown the HNL Wetland of the Year!

HNLN was seeking participation from schools to adopt one wetland in their local government area (one wetland, one school). All schools involved in the 2025 HNLN Wetland Challenge (SWC) were invited to submit a poster or video of the work undertaken to care for your wetland, to showcase the amazing work caring for Country in the Hawkesbury – Nepean.

At the HNL SWC Awards on the 5th of June at Western Sydney University (WSU) campus, four of the 6 participating schools attended to present "why their local wetland should be HNLN Wetland of the Year". 

After a wonderful day of learning, storytelling, passion and laughter, the HNL Wetland of the Year, was awarded to Lorien Novalis Steiner School from the Hills Shire! 

THANKS - The delicious morning tea was made from native edibles, by Linda Pine (a volunteer of CHEN), the lunch was catered by Kallico, a local First Nations company and a special mention to the volunteers who made the day as special as it was... You know who you are! 

This event was supported by Sydney Water's education team, Cattai Hills Environment Network (CHEN), Hawkesbury Nepean Waterkeeper Alliance and WSU.

I managed to get an invitation to the Bilpin Environment Day and Farmers Market held at the Bilpin community hall on Saturday the tenth of May between 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM. I looked forward to the day dedicated to the Blue Mountains Shale Cap Forest which extends to higher altitudes from lower elevations with the intent to help promote its recovery and the native animals that call it home. Our host for the day was the Hawkesbury Nepean Landcare Network whose goal was to inform local landholders with 1/2 an acre of land that they could enter a voluntary conservation agreement to carry out regeneration works to aid their bushland habitat by applying for funding. It was advertised as a community celebration of conservation and sustainability and with good ticket registrations prior to the day along with 16 stallholders, most local, it was sure not to disappoint.

When finally, the morning arrived; we were off as the fog parted way the higher we got out of Richmond and ascended the Bells Line of road towards Bilpin; we found ourselves pleasantly driving through farmland with glimpses of good tracts of the still intact forest with majestic old growth trees. This reminded me of an 1834 diary exert I read recently where on a visit to the area a Mrs Fentin Mathew [Sarah] noted that when at Kurrajong heights she was "looking down on a dark unbroken forest, undulating like the sea, the horizon bounded by a chain of mountains' with "Richmond and Windsor in the distance.' Very poetic and in keeping with this start to our day as was the worthy vista all around us. As I hadn't visited the area in a long time I was given highlights of the sites to see with my host acting as tour guide which included pointing out where the devastating Gosper's Mountain fire had jumped the road in several places.

Upon arrival we hit the ground running as we helped set up each other’s stalls: most fortuitous because when complete it was time for the Bilpin Farmers Market to start. I walked around the Community Hall in ample sunshine where the locals were selling their goods and produce while conservation groups were chatting to local landholders about how to best look after their bushland patch. A wonderful array was on offer; from delicious baked goods, woodwork, knitted woollens, ceramics, jars of homemade jam, an entomology collection and the Blue Mountains Conservation Society featuring prominently. The hall notice board displayed local and regional tourism sites with history featured highly while general flyers filled up the rest of the board. As I returned past the environmental marquis they were decked out with all manner of available information, samples and stallholders imparting their accumulated eco-wisdom to passers-by to entice them to stop and consider what they could do to help their local area.

I was distracted by the frenetic activity of visitors to the stalls so missed the Bird Walk run by Eric and Weed Walk run by Helen earlier in the morning. This included the wildlife encounters hands on show, Bilpin Landcare, bush regeneration, the wildlife arborists habitat manufacturing display, native plant giveaways and weed identification sessions as well as Bilpin Public Schools art display specially for the day and finally the water quality education van. All displays were offering attendees opportunities to learn. Later I managed to tag along with the native plants and ecosystem walk run by Elliot. We walked past the carpark and down to the bottom of the gully passing through different plant communities still recovering from the fire that had devastated Bilpin.

Soon after we returned celebrating the community's ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship as the day concluded with an eco-raffle. Three winners were plucked out of the raffle bag with eco-raffle prizes for botanical enthusiast given out. All in all, a pleasant day spent in the mountains.

In Australia, plastic pollution by humans is killing our unique and native wildlife at devastating levels."

Read the article here: Sad find in river highlights 'urgent' Aussie crisis: 'Heartbreaking'

You can help look after Platypuses.... read below. 

Platypuses are shy creatures, and this is how you can protect them in your very own neighbourhood:

• Don’t use yabby traps to catch yabbies in freshwater streams.

• Don’t disturb Platypuses if you see them.

• Plant native plants along the stream bank, it will protect the banks and provide areas to live.

• Clean up streams by removing broken bottles and rubbish.

• Keep your dogs on a leash if walking them near Platypus habitat.

Platypus love:

Slow flowing water – such as in a series of pools and riffles.

A bit of depth – including pools up to 1 to 2m deep, but no deeper than 5 m, with little sand accumulation.

Vegetation – such as plenty of water plants and plants overhanging the stream banks.

Cleanliness – in the form of good water quality.

Somewhere to hide – such as around large woody debris like logs.
 

But they don’t like:

Predators – including foxes, cats and dogs.

Poor habitats – where stream banks have been eroded and degraded, particularly by livestock.

Pollution – including detergents, fertilizers, pesticides and rubbish in their water.
 

Be a Platypus buddy, try to:

• leave burrows alone as the Platypus may be incubating eggs which are very fragile.

• protect Platypus habitats by revegetating eroded creek banks with suitable locally native plants – check with your local council or native nursery to find out which plants would be best for your area.

• fence off creek banks so livestock don’t damage them.

• replant bare or eroded creek banks.

• tread carefully and be very quiet if you want to spot a Platypus during the early morning or late afternoon.

Avoid:

• using chemicals and pesticides in your garden, as the run off caused by rains can enter waterways and badly affect native animals by causing algal blooms.

• using fishing nets or yabby traps in areas where Platypuses live.

• spraying insecticides near rivers where they kill off food sources for Platypuses.

Don’t be surprised if:

• you notice that Platypus come and go from an area. Platypuses may disappear in some areas due to predators.

• you find a Platypus by itself. They are mainly solitary creature

Source of information: Platypus - Backyard Buddies

After a long day out in the sun doing some bush regeneration, I arrive home and to my surprise a scaly little friend lies at my doorstep, and it just so happens to be an eastern brown snake, and the snake seemed to be a little bit stuck.

I act quickly and identify the snake, confirming what species the snake is with the lovely people from Snake Identification Australia & then contacted Chris the snake catcher from Urban Reptile Removal, shortly before his arrival the little guy or gal managed to set themselves free and slither away, hopefully making their way across the road and back into the reserve.

I feel I took the right steps in this situation to ensure the safety of myself and my new snake friend by keeping my distance and seeking help from the right people.

In the end it resolved itself, the snake, my pug and I were both unharmed. I love snakes and after this encounter, I love them even more. There was no fear I felt, just respect and concern.

Read the Yahoo News Australia article here: Aussie woman trapped outside in 40-degree heat by 'dangerous' intruder