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Thank you, Dr Mangrove

11/11/2020

7 Comments

 
PictureAfter he moved to Coronet Bay, Dr Tim Ealey threw himself into the
task of regenerating mangroves and seagrass.
By Meryl Brown Tobin
 
TIM Ealey loved Coronet Bay, where he lived for some years after retirement.
 
Though an internationally acclaimed scientist, Tim was a simple man who spoke in simple terms and acted in simple ways to demonstrate his convictions. The environment was his passion and, if he didn’t know how best to protect it, he taught himself how.

In 1998 when he moved to Western Port with his wife, Laura, he soon became involved in mangrove and seagrass regeneration with the Western Port Seagrass Partnership and became one of its directors. As he didn’t know much about mangrove growing, he experimented and worked out the best way to grow them.

​Countless local children in 10 schools, including Bass Valley, Lang Lang and Koo Wee Rup, learned the importance of mangroves from “Dr Mangrove”. As they propagated mangrove seeds or sloshed around in mud on the Waterline mudflats planting mangroves, he taught them at first hand what they had to do to help restore a degraded environment and combat climate change.

Picture
Tim and Laura Ealey and Hartley Tobin admiring a lush stand of mangroves naturally growing between Grantville and Pioneer Bay

In early 2016, when locals were fighting a Bass Coast Shire Council proposal to rezone part of The Gurdies from Farm Zone to Rural Activity Zone, he appeared as an expert witness for one of the objectors at a panel hearing for the Bass Coast Planning Scheme Amendment C140. He wrote the following short and simple statement for all to understand:
 
Importance of habitat linkages
The home range of blue wrens is about the size of one household block. Cut it in half and the wrens will disappear. A dingo has a range of about 70 km. All animals including birds, reptiles, insects have predictable home ranges. Except for the mountains, Victoria has a pitifully small area of bushland preserved. Bass Coast Shire is fortunate in having more habitat preserved in private hands and public spaces than most other Shires. Different species have different needs. Kangaroos need some scrub but enjoy grazing on pastures while wallabies usually browse on bushes.
 
Several small bush areas linked by bushland corridors can constitute a large space and so can accommodate more species. Any development which disrupts these links reduces the carrying capacity for a number of species. Any planning scheme which leads to fragmentation of the habitat will actually diminish the numbers and diversity of the wildlife. This is well documented and understood by some planners.
 
The problem is that the actual presence or absence of wildlife is not obvious although well documented scientifically. It therefore becomes a matter of knowledge or faith which all planners do not have. Happily I believe our Bass Coast planners are aware of this unseen but very real planning complication and will bear it in mind when considering planning changes.
 
To give credence to his contribution, he provided a list of his academic qualifications and awards. Apart from a Bachelor of Science from Sydney University in zoology and physiology (1950), and a PhD from WA (1960), his biological research on Heard Island in 1949 “added to the data bank which later led to the island becoming a Reserve”. A glacier over which Tim used to sledge was later named Ealey Glacier. His research in the Pilbara from 1951 to 1959 on hill kangaroos (Euros) “indicated they were not responsible for pasture degradation and so obviated the need to exterminate them”. While in the Pilbara, he discovered several mammals including a small marsupial carnivore later named Ningaui timealeyi.
 
From 1960 to 1973 he taught ecology and researched native mammals and fire ecology at Monash University. In the late 60s, he realised students had little knowledge of the real world, so set up courses on applied ecology and environmental conservation. Data gathered by his students contributed to the Little Desert becoming a national park.
 
For seven years in the late ’60s he taught adult education courses on environment and conservation. For six years as Dr Tim, he also did weekly TV programs about wildlife and conservation on Channel 7.
 
In 1973, he started the Master of Environmental Science course at Monash University, the first course of its kind in Australia and one of the largest in the world with over 100 candidates enrolled. In time the program became the Graduate School of Environmental Science with Dr Ealey as Director until his retirement in 1986. Many graduates went on to work in government departments, shire offices and industry.
 
Dr Ealey led student research teams in Australia and to Papua New Guinea and North Borneo. He worked in Thailand, in Honolulu, China and as a senior consultant with the United Nations Environment Program. He also worked with the Walpiri people to help them gain land rights to the Tanami Desert. His skin name was Tim Japananka.
 
His work commitments did not interfere with his love of water colour painting. In 1984 he became president of the Australasian Wildlife Artists Society and after his retirement he taught landscape and bush painting at the U3A in Grantville.
 
Over a lifetime of work in conservation, Dr Ealey received many awards. They include the Victorian Coastal Award for Excellence for species protection, the Commonwealth Award for the Coastal Custodian of Australia for 2006 for efforts to regenerate mangroves and stop coastal erosion in Western Port, and an Order of Australia Medal 2008 for service to conservation and the environment. The National Library Canberra nominated him as a National Treasure.
 
Tim Ealey left a huge environmental legacy. May Bass Coast heed his wise words about habitat linkages and continue his mangrove plantings to help ensure a sustainable environment is left for current and future generations in this beautiful part of the world.
 
For two video tributes to Tim Ealey by his daughters, see The road you take sung by Jenny Ealey on and Tim Ealey––Dr Mangrove sung by Wendy Ealey.
Picture
Desert Garden, watercolour painting by Tim Ealey, 1993
7 Comments
Felicia Di Stefano
13/11/2020 01:43:51 pm

Thank you, Meryl for an informative tribute to a rich, useful life.

Reply
Sharon Willcox
13/11/2020 02:18:51 pm

What a wonderful tribute! I really enjoyed learning about the breadth of Dr Mangrove’s contributions. The two song videos by his daughter which included many photos and stories of his life were also very moving. The chorus of Wendy’s song was particularly poignant: “And he says that the planet will recover one day when we’re all extinct and well out of the way. In the meantime, he does the few things that he can to counteract the ravages and greed of man”.

Thanks Meryl for also reminding us through Tim’s example of the power of simple communication in environmental advocacy.

Reply
Michelle Graham
13/11/2020 02:24:53 pm

Kind gentleman who advcocated for our local environment. I learnt about mangroves as a child, but Tim taught us about the true importance of these incredible plants

Reply
Jean Coffey
13/11/2020 04:44:54 pm

Thank you Meryl. Congratulations on such a well researched, beautifully written and moving tribute to our friend Tim.

Reply
Jeannie Haughton
14/11/2020 07:28:33 am

Thank you Meryl. As with the Trees I have written about, so many people are quietly making A contribution and caring for the natural world around them. Vale Tim Ealey.

Reply
Andrea LINDSAY
14/11/2020 10:23:19 am

It is hard to believe the world will still keep turning without Tim. But then, there are his hundreds of Enviromental Science mafia, all the children and adults he taught, and his lovely Laura and daughters to keep it spinning.
The years I spent studying for my Master of Environmental Science, then as one of Tim's crew on the staff of the Graduate School of Environmental Science at Monash, have probably been the most influential in my life. And in the life of my family. My children and grandchildren are committed greenies. My mother was too. So the ripples of Tim's grand influence go on spreading and growing.
He was indeed a great man, a wonderful colleague and dear friend. May you find comfort in wonderful memories Laura.
.

Reply
Anne Heath Mennell
19/11/2020 10:26:29 am

Thank you, Meryl for this beautiful tribute. I didn't know Tim very well and I had no idea of the extent of his achievements. He will be sorely missed but what an incredible beneficial impact he had on the world - what a legacy he leaves. As Andrea says, the ripples will keep on spreading well into the future. Be assured that those of us who knew him will continue his work, especially in Western Port, as best we can. Condolences to Laura anf Vale Tim the Warrior!

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