On Friday I took the train from Melbourne’s CBD up to the edge of the beautiful Dandenong Ranges National Park with a friend visiting from Sydney, to do one of the most popular bushwalks in the city, the 1000 Steps trail.
Surrounded by the world’s tallest flowering plants, these towering 70m+ eucalyptus trees known as mountain ash, amongst lush ferns and other greenery, soaking in the smell of the forest and sounds of nature around us as we climbed the steps, I relished in the much needed forest bathe to recharge. After we completed the walk I got to lie back in a beautiful little meadow at the base of the mountain, full of gratitude to live in a city with such easy access to fresh air and precious greenery protected for its wildlife to thrive in and for its people to enjoy.
Wouldn’t it be marvellous to have every big city in the world rewilded in some way, allowing us to better integrate with nature around us while reminding us that we need it for societies to survive and thrive? I’ve just started reading ‘Ultrawild’ by industrial designer and sustainability teacher Steve Mushin, a playful and optimistic illustrated science and design book about tackling climate change through creative thinking and extreme rewilding. The book explores the value of farfetched thought experiments in driving change, and packed with facts about the building blocks of rewilding, from soil engineering to carbon sequestration.
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