More Habitat For Koalas On NSW North Coast

Beneath the waves.

In a world of song and rhythm, Brett Vercoe once found peace, a filmmaker, a free diver, a guardian of the deep.

But as years passed, he and Lisa, an educator and passionate grower, found their calling closer to the Earth.

Together, they embarked on a journey - one far beyond their past adventures.

It brought them here to Narlu on the Coffs coast, a place of outstanding beauty.

Diversity.

And now restoration.

My wife and I purchased this property about two years ago, with the idea of revegetating and regenerating a couple of different forms of forest.

One is lowland subtropical rainforest, which we're sitting in right now on floodplain. It's an endangered ecological community, so it's worthy of some protection, some pretty urgent protection.

But also, we're very keen to facilitate the restoration of some wet and dry sclerophyll forest, which we have on the back of the property, and some rolling hills to the south of where we are at the moment.

And the idea behind that was to reestablish some koala habitat in this area of what was once what's known as primary koala habitat, which is the best of koala habitats.

But unfortunately, it's become over time very fragmented due to agricultural practices.

So the idea was to try and consolidate the fragmented portions and provide connectivity between the two.

This is a family rooted in hope and laughter, where even an Instagram famous horse finds its place in the story.

And while their dreams are grand, at heart they are just like any family, seeking community, nurturing stewardship and embracing the challenge of regeneration.

Here on the Coffs coast, the land sings an ancient song, one of Gondwana, of lush rainforests that once covered the world.

It's a region unlike any other, a sanctuary for species found nowhere else.

But it's also a land under threat, balancing on the edge of preservation and loss.

The first stage, of course, is the seeds, which we collect ourselves mainly from around our own property or very close by. So it's all endemic to this actual valley.

I'm trying to raise tree ferns at the moment because it was a dairy farm here. The cows just ate all the ferns and palms.

I'm collecting a new lot of gums, and I just collected these the other day, some seeds for some brush boxes and flooded gums.

This needs to go in the ground. That table was full, probably had about 300 of these.

And because the cows had eaten everything off the river, we've needed to replace them.

Like a lot of people who've met Brett and Lisa, they were drawn in by their enthusiasm and their motivation. It was selfless.

Whenever I come out here, I see one of them, Brett or Lisa, and they're both happy to see us and keep us updated on little bits and pieces on what they've been doing.

Meeting their dog, Bella, and a couple of horses down there. They're just inspiring people. That's why we do it.

We've also tried to, wherever possible, involve First Nations people in the management of the property, particularly with regard to controlling African grasses, introduced cattle grasses that basically blanket the block.

This includes cultural burns, which we've had great success with, and we're going to continue using those.

We've got a few test areas at the moment where we're trialling them, and the results so far are really good.

That should hopefully assist with the regeneration, the natural regeneration of the forest.

If I was given the opportunity to do what they're doing, I'd probably do the exact same thing.

I am proud to know them, and I think that it's amazing the way that they focus their energy on this property.

What more can we do for Mother Earth than support her being beautiful again and bringing back what she's meant to have on her.

Regeneration isn't glamorous. It means fighting weeds, facing storms and confronting the frustration of slow progress.

Yet through it all, Brett and Lisa found strength supported by family and community, knowing that the work would outlast them.

Another fairly confronting challenge has been the extreme swings in weather that we've been experiencing over the last four or five years, particularly with flood events.

We had five floods in three years, each of which qualified as a one in one hundred year flood event.

We've had extremely hot days which can stress juvenile plants.

So we've had to at times water our plants just to make sure they survive those freakish events.

But freakish events seem to be happening fairly consistently these days.

So we've also had a big increase in raptors, and we can see a wedge tailed eagle cruising around behind me at the moment.

Today, Narlu is blossoming. Native trees stretch skyward, waterways are flowing clearly and wildlife is returning.

These aren't just trees or streams. They're lifelines for future generations.

Seeing their grandchildren play, knowing the land will provide long after they're gone, Brett and Lisa are reminded that true legacy isn't what we take, but what we give.

So the reality is that even my grandchildren will probably not see this project reach its entire fruition. It'll be ongoing.

Many of the trees that we planted here will live for five, six, seven hundred years, hopefully.

So it'll be a multigenerational thing where the trees will continue to grow and achieve incredible size.

Restoring a landscape takes time, patience and love.

But the dream of Narlu is more than personal. It's a gift to this region, a promise to the Coffs Coast and a call to us all.

Because the trees we plant today will shade our grandchildren tomorrow.

To learn more, to grow your own story of stewardship, join the movement.

Together we can leave the world better than we found it.