We protect what we love

FRIDAY . 03 . 06. 22 .

Good morning and happy Friday.

The FWP team have been quite busy this week. Hilary has packed up her life into her van and is headed north to house sit for Freddie for a few weeks. En route she has caught up with Will and Tim in Illawarra and explored the local escarpment. And Paige is getting ready to move half way across the world in pursuit of a different running journey - joining the 'Wolfpack' Track Team and finishing her studies at the University of Nevada. I think we're all going to miss the Axle spam on Instagram, but we're all so excited for the next stage of her running journey.

In this week's newsletter, we celebrate Global Running Day, link you to a trail running series event happening this weekend, provide you with a summary of the recent 'Tarkine Shoe' trail talk, explain the importance of wildflowers in the ecosystem and recommend some Australian native flowers that you can grow in your backyard to provide a safe haven for pollinators.

Happy reading folks.

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GLOBAL RUNNING DAY

Wednesday 1 June

Global Running Day encourages all people to go out on the streets (or treadmills) and run, regardless of pace or for how long. The goal isn't to be competitive; it's to celebrate activeness and emphasise the health benefits -physical, mental, emotional and spiritual - of movement.

Here at FWP, we view Global Running Day as a day of unity, community and connection - with one another and this incredible planet. Our Instagram feed was full of amazing stories of why people run, the joys and hurts it brings and the sense of accomplishment that's felt.

TRAIL RUNNING SERIES: YARRA BEND

This weekend, we are stoked to be joining Rapid Ascent at the first Trail Running Series for 2022 in Yarra Bend, Naarm/Melbourne. The FWP and crew will be helping out at the bag drop, and sharing trail stoke and stories with runners and spectators alike.

If you’d like to join us on Saturday, we’d love for you to volunteer with us at Yarra Bend between 7.00am - 11.00am. Reach out to Hilary at hilary@forwildplaces.com if you’d like to join us. Or if you're participating or heading along, be sure to swing by for a chat!

We are looking forward to being involved with other upcoming TRS events - for more information on these events, head to the event website.

See you there!

TRAIL TALK #1: SAM BURKE FROM TARKINE

The world's most eco-friendly shoe

A couple week's ago we held our first ‘trail chat’ with Sam Burke, co-founder of Tarkine shoes. It was wonderful to chat with Sam. He explained the idea behind Tarkine and why combining business with environmental activism is so important today. He also talked us through some aspects of the manufacturing process and the challenges of producing quality gear while working towards eco-friendly products. The chat was relaxed, conversational and really interesting. Click on the graphic below to watch the chat.

We also drew the winners of our Tarkine giveaway - big congrats to Shane W and Felicity for winning a pair of Goshawks!

Check out Tarkine and help spread the word. Remember, 2% of every sale is donated to the campaign to help save the takayna/Tarkine rainforest. And a huge thanks to Sam for being our guest!

Tarkine are not only the world’s most eco-friendly running shoe, they are also one of our membership partners. Sign up now for a 20% discount on all Tarkine gear!

We plan on running trail chats monthly going forward so keep an eye out for more special guests and interesting chats!

You can watch the recording here. Sorry it's taken us a little while to get this to you - Hilary's internet isn't great and the video has spent the last two weeks uploading (it was finally 100% on Monday) 🤣

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WILD MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION

Wild Magazine are donating 10% of the subscription amount to For Wild Places

FWP Founding Members would have received their free copy of Wild magazine by now - we hope you enjoyed it! If you did, now's the time to subscribe! Wild Magazine are donating 10% of the subscription amount to FWP to help us do what we do (you also get a free Thermos). Yet another act of awesomeness from the team at Wild!

Use Use this link to subscribe and encourage your friends to sign up as well - it's open to all FWP friends, supporters and outdoor allies.

Week 3: Exploring single technical trail in Dharawal Country, Royal National Park

The Royal National Park, located in Dharawal country, was established in 1879, making it the oldest National Park in Australia, and the second oldest in the world (after Yellowstone USA, est. 1872). It is 151 square kilometres, was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2006 and had it’s name changed from ‘National Park’ to ‘Royal National Park’ in 1955 after Queen Elizabeth II passed by in a train.

Things got a lot dirtier later in my run. Here are my feed, surrounded by dried Banksia leaves.

Wildflowers of Royal National Park

Landscapes in the park vary from plateaus, to river valley’s, coastal heathland and beaches. Consequently, there are hundreds of beautiful flora to encounter in this diverse, beautiful and widespread habitat. In fact, over 1000 plant species have been recorded, including 26 species which are listed as nationally threatened or rare (source). Over the weekend, I stuck to the rocky ridges and plateaus (slightly inland) and, whilst wildflowers are in abundance during Spring, there are so many species that bloom at different seasons. I saw common heath, juniper wattle and honeysuckle banksias.

Epacris Impressa (colloquially known as the cigarette flower or ‘Common Heath’) is native to south eastern Australia. It grows in shrubbery and open forest, and attracts honey eating birds.

Wildflowers not only add vibrant colours and shapes to our landscape, but create rich habitats that provide food and shelter for wildlife. They also provide pollinators, such as bees and butterflies, with a food source and, in return, transfer pollen enabling more wildflowers to be produced. 

They’re also significant during winter. As food can become a little more scarce, wildflower seeds can become an important food source for birds and other small animals.

The Juniper Wattle (Acacia ulicifolia) is a small shrub with short, needle-like leaves. Pale yellow or cream flowers are produced from autumn to spring.

Plant wildflowers in your backyard

Non-native species can pose a risk to wildflowers, as they can introduce disease and compete for space, pollination and water. In addition, the increased use of pesticides and urbanisation have resulted in a decline in wildflowers. This also poses a risk for pollinators.

By planting a diverse range of wildflowers in your garden, you can provide a shelter for pollinators, such as the honeybee and Australian native bee, and help incidental pollination to keep wildflowers thriving.

Some great Australian native flowers include:

Native Bottlebrush: these shrubs produce a mass of nectar and pollen rich flowers that native bees and birds love

Flowering gum trees: these are a fabulous source of food for native bees

Grevilleas: these are a fuss-free, native shrub that flower profusely! They also come in a range of sizes, from ground covers and mid-sized shrubs to tall screening plants

Kangaroo paw: which also happens to be the state flower of Western Australia

Wattle Acacia: The Golden Wattle variety is the national flower of Australia and all varieties grow pretty fast, so you can have some amazing colour in your backyard pretty quickly

Chorizema: these have orange, pink and red flowers in winter and early spring, so perfect for some cooler season colour (when other plants may not be in bloom).

You don't need a huge backyard to host an array of wildflowers. Here is a little pot of wildflowers (obv. not in bloom) in a little side street in Surry Hills.

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Take some time to get outside, find inner peace on the trails and we'll catch you next week.

And, as always, thank you for taking the time to support wild places!

Elanor & the For Wild Places team.

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We acknowledge the the First Nations people who have been custodians of land, waters and culture for tens of thousands of years. We pay respects to First Nations Elders past, present and emerging.

This email was compiled on Gadigal lands of the Eora nation. To these people, we pay our respects.

Always was, always will be.