In cities and towns throughout the world there is a trend to rehabilitate degraded factory, quarry and tip sites because there is a demand for conveniently located housing and recreational space.
As Lismore grows there is a need to re-use land for this purpose rather than spread into our beautiful relatively untouched areas.
The site of the Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens is the Waste Management Facility of the Lismore City Council at Wyrallah Road. It will be many years before the site is phased out as a waste management facility. However this 43 hectare site includes a large area of land which can be developed as stage 1 of the Gardens now.
The Management Committee has worked for many years to obtain a site, have a Capability Study completed and develop a Strategic Plan. The Landscape Architect Dames & Moore were contracted to develop the Masterplan. The principles which were incorporated in the site reconstruction for Sydney Olympic Park, will be used i.e. rehabilitation of soil, preservation of native species, use of recycled water and other useful materials and use of alternative energy systems.
The masterplan brief for the Lismore Gardens calls for "planning, staging and creativity, involving environmentally friendly features demonstrated in the areas of Research, Conservation, Education, Recreation and Heritage."
The masterplan has been designed to incorporate a Centre for Ecological Restoration with a focus on rainforest vegetation types associated with the Big Scrub. It is important to retain any naturally occurring vegetation and there are remnant stands of dry rainforest grading to wet sclerophyll forest on the northern ridge.
It is in this area that the Friends have been working over the past year. With the assistance of a Landcare grant, many skills have been gained, large areas have been weeded and naturally occurring rainforest seedlings tagged. An area called "Fern Gully" was discovered during the clearing and it will provide a focus for development in stage 1.
