"What tree will you be when you die?”
Photo by Daniel Shipp
This is the title for a brilliant feature written by Georgina Reid for The Plant Hunter about Living Legacy Forest which is on my property near the Wellington Dam in Western Australia. At the heart of everything I do is a desire to leave my world in a better place than when I arrived. This desire is entirely supported by my family and my brother (who is the joint owner) and his family.
When our Dad died we inherited his bush block near Wellington Dam in the state of Western Australia. We have done a lot of conservation work on the property ourselves and with a desire to have the site protected forever we have teamed up with Warren Roberts and his team who created the ‘Living Legacy Forest’ @living_legacy_forest
Warren wanted to re-think the cemetery model and find a way to heal our land at the same time - his idea is tree planting and re-forestation in memory of a deceased person. It’s a powerful way to create a meaningful place that is kept in-perpetuity as a nature conservation zone. Our block was mostly a bush block but there are a few remaining paddocks to restore. So the paddocks that were cleared well before the property was part of our family are now turning into living forests with a tree and plaque instead of a headstone, to commemorate a loved one. Imagine walking through a cemetery but of living trees celebrating the life of loved ones - full of animal life.
Here is a clip from Bird Nerd: the art of Leila Jeffreys by Poppy Stockwell which features the Living Legacy Forest.
