Dick Wettenhall

The back tracks

16/11/2024

Dick Wettenhall’s new guide book takes visitors to the Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve off the beaten track to discover different parts of this fascinating place. Photo: Terry Melvin

By Dick Wettenhall

WHILE the The Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve is well recognised for orchids and birds, visitors usually only look for these along the main tracks near the car parks. Most never get to explore the magnificent woodlands on the ridges, plateaus, creek valleys and lowland basins.

This guide takes you to these places where you will discover different worlds of nature’s creations. The trees are taller, the vegetation is denser and more diverse, the orchids and the fungi are healthier and rarer, the pollinators of the orchids are more active, and there is a greater abundance of native birds and animals.

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Don't mess with my miniature creatures

10/5/2024

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Heart lip spider orchid being pollinated by wasp.
All photos: Dick Wettenhall

By Dick Wettenhall

THE clearing of remnant forests for farming and the extraction of timber, gravel, and sand for the building industry have been inevitable consequences of population growth and economic development in the Bass Coast region.

The few remaining patches of forests are now at risk of being permanently lost due to the escalating demands for sand and gravel. They are also being compromised by unregulated recreational activities. For example, the off-track riding of mountain bikes and horses in the Gurdies Reserve has recently destroyed habitats for rare species of heart lip spider and hybrid bird orchids. Of particular concern are the forests in the Western Port region which are based on high-quality deposits of sand and gravel. Why should we be concerned about the loss of these forests? (Photo 1)

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The secret life of orchids

28/7/2021

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Dick Wettenhall probes the underworld of this miraculous plant species (including sexual deception) and reveals the threat posed by sand mining to some of Victoria’s rarest orchid communities. Photo: Kalgoorlie Donkey Orchid (Diuris brumalis)

By Dick Wettenhall

A SEMINAL moment for me was the discovery of spectacular Donkey Orchids growing in virtual sand south of Kalgoorlie. With no water in sight, I wondered how these delicate plants survived.

I am reminded of this when driving past the sand mine-scarred bushlands along Western Port’s shoreline stretching from Lang Lang to Glen Forbes. Disturbingly, this is one of Bass Coast’s few remaining areas of remnant bushland, and home for some of Victoria’s rarest orchids.

The survival of these orchids, as with Kalgoorlie’s Donkey Orchids, is the product of millions of years of evolutionary adaptation to the extraordinarily intricate underground ecology of dry nutrient-poor soils. Tragically, it only takes seconds for sand mining bulldozers and excavators to irreversibly destroy these remarkable ecosystems.

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