New signage leads the way along Barwon Estuary

LOCAL environmental groups, community members, artists and volunteers gathered in Barwon Heads last week to celebrate the installation of wetland-themed signs along the Barwon Estuary walkway.

Hosted by the Barwon Estuary Project and Bellarine Catchment Network, attendees were able to experience the project as they embarked on a guided walk, stopping at each sign.

The signs were developed as part of a community education approach co-ordinated by the Barwon Estuary Project with much of the preparatory work funded by the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority while signs were installed in partnership with Parks Victoria.

The seven signs start from the Barwon Heads Boat Ramp and finish at the Sheepwash Road end of the walkway, featuring photography, poetry and language from community members, Wadawurrung and Barwon Heads Primary School.

Diane Jackson Hill was one of the locals who contributed to the project, writing a poem for one of the signs.

The poem, titled ‘Moonah Magic (Fairy Tree),’ was inspired by the seeing the Fairy Tree and the smooth trunks and branches as she watched her grandchildren climb it.

Ms Jackson Hill said she was taking in the history of the tree and thinking about what the tree would have seen 300 years ago.

“When we went there, there was a little family that had little posies of flowers and fairy dust and they were having a little picnic there, I thought that’s one way to enjoy it.

“They had this all in their imagination about the fairies living on the tree and I thought it was beautiful then I thought, the fairies maybe aren’t so real, but the magic of the tree being 300 years old and being around when First Nations people were only there and what they thought of the tree.”

A different element of the local Ramsar wetlands is featured on each sign from cultural habitats surrounding the estuary, local birdlife, tiny life and more.

The signage project marked the final official program of the Barwon Estuary Project which has been together since 2016, providing education and action of the importance, beauty and fragility of the Barwon Estuary.