STEP into Canberra’s Local Plant Space at the 
                           Australian National Arboretum
                                        (12 March 2015)

I recently attended the opening of STEP’s new education space, ‘The Clearing’, an impressive and equally as thoughtful rock Amphitheatre. The latest addition to Forest 20 at Canberra’s National Arboretum is a unique community gathering space where one can enjoy and learn about the local landscape.


Construction of the Southern Tablelands Ecosystems Park commenced in 2009 and includes a diverse range of indigenous Eucalyptus species and understory plants. It is designed to promote the conservation and restoration of native landscapes, inspiring locals to grow locals. As so succinctly described, STEP is where ‘science meets creativity’.
 

This ingenious representational landscape has been created with the lay of the land and aspect in mind, meandering through multiple ‘garden rooms’ including The She-Oak Nook, a swamp habitat, and a bush food garden, to name but a few. Species throughout the forest are labelled, enabling visitors to put names to varieties of plants they may have seen while out enjoying local bushland and nature reserves.


The ongoing support of volunteers is an integral part of STEP’s evolution and maintenance. One such volunteer is retired forester Jens Svensson, who has been contributing to the forest’s establishment for the past five years. Jens monitors the growth and development of each and every specimen of the 18 species of Eucalypt trees on the site.


For more information about STEP, including volunteering at this fabulous facility, see: www.step.asn.au

 

Eryngium ovinum at STEP.

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The Clearing

Let us walk

Through the forests of our minds

In dappled shade

And dark hollows

In tangles of forbs, creepers, climbers

Which snatch at our imagination

Past shrubs which disguise the nearer view

Enticing us to look beyond

To think beyond

We revel in the colour, the texture, the scents

The paths never fully defined

Secrets not yet unlocked

Till we reach the clearing

Where air and space

And the longer view

Bring us to the centre of ourselves

Where clarity and sharp vision

Exuberance and truth

Are found.

                                                                                                            J E Smith   1/15