Where the wild hope grows

Marysville on the way to Keppel Falls, 2017

Eight years after the Black Saturday bushfires, I took this picture during a day trip to Marysville to visit the waterfalls and caterpillars. The bushland was filling back in but the skeletal remnants of the disaster still lingered. The bushy green regrowth was a picture of hope bursting up towards the wide blue sky.

It is now 10 years after Black Saturday and the Australian heartland is on fire again. The current fires have already ravaged a land area that is more than thirteen times the size of the Black Saturday fires. It’s only January, the start of the official bushfire season, and yet the fires have already raged for five months. There are three months left of the fire season, and unusual weather patterns from climate change and firestorms may extend the season.

Australia is already exhausted but the fight continues.

I woke up this morning to a flurry of messages from my neighbours on our whatsapp chat group. They were talking about the air pollution and sharing breathing mask supplies with each other. The air pollution level in Melbourne is officially Heavily Polluted, and everyone is recommended to stay inside. Living halfway across the world, I have been physically insulated from the smoke and heat. But distance is no boundary to emotion. I spent the entire day feeling miserable and helpless.

I find it hard to be optimistic and to hope for regrowth in the coming years. How can our wildlife refugees return in the future if they have nowhere to run to now? How long will it take to regenerate an area that combined is larger than 72 entire countries? How will the thousands of people evacuated from East Gippsland rebuild their lives when they have lost their friends and family members to the fires, and the land they rely on is entirely burnt away?

Australia has already lost the battle with climate change. Now we fight a different battle - the battle just to stay alive in the pyre.

Hans and I have donated some funds left over from our budget to the Community Enterprise Foundation’s Bushfire Disaster Appeal. If you don’t have an Australian bank account but you still want to donate, you can do so through the Red Cross’s Disaster Relief and Recovery Appeal.