13.3.2013 | Local premiere for our new movie
With the help of the Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges NRM Board and the Gawler Regional Natural Resource Centre the Food Forest has produced a 40 minute film showing effective ways of restoring the seasonal rivers that flow into St Vincent’s Gulf.
The film will be launched on Wednesday 13 March at 6pm by local MP Tony Piccolo and Minister for Communities and Social Inclusion. The public is welcome to attend this free premiere screening in the Hewett Centre, 28 Kingfisher Drive, Hewett (Gawler).
Free bookings are essential. Contact Emily Griffiths at the Gawler Regional Natural Resource Centre 8 Adelaide Road, Gawler South ph 8523 7700, or emailEmily.Griffiths@sa.gov.au.
Local people and the three rivers that meet in Gawler are the main characters in an inspiring film showing how the community is restoring sections of the river corridor, from rabbit infested thickets of African boxthorn and Prickly pear to the diverse, beautiful and productive indigenous ecosystem that existed for thousands of years before European settlement.
Whilst hard work and sweat are involved, the movie 'Repairing our Rivers'shows how clever systems are the key to restoring riparian ecosystems. Starting with a couple of spades and determination, a tiny group of landholders were in real danger of losing the battle with pest plants and animals but they battled on, eventually realising that help was available from the local Natural Resources Management Board, seed collectors, machinery operators, indigenous elders, local schools, conservation volunteers and students.
'Repairing our Rivers' systematically presents the 'tricks of the trade' that they have learned on the way and is a great guide for effective environmental action. It captures the drama of floods which collapsed a major section of the river bank and introduces new and more effective ways of pest plant control, and revegetation.
The film also shows the remarkable Greening of the town of Gawler through the establishment of bike paths along the river corridors and unique low-level bridges shows how simple it can be to provide quick, safe, sustainable travel across towns as well as providing access to their leafy, tranquil river environments.
Interviews with the people who have made the restoration happen are interspersed with an educational narration that clearly lays out the steps to restoration success.
The movie was made for Food Forest TV, with production by local environmental designer Graham Brookman and editing by British videographer Sam Collins. Graham said that film was filmed over the period of a year and shows the remarkable transformation of a landscape. “The increase in birds, lizards and other wildlife has been spectacular. Combine that with the systematic environmental flows from the South Para reservoir and we have seen a dramatic recovery in the health of the whole river. And this is a process that can be replicated by community groups and councils up and down the catchment”.
Coordinator of the Gawler Regional Natural Resource Centre, Emily Griffiths said that the Centre was proud to have been involved in both the river repair work by its sub-group Gawler River Riparian Restoration (GRRR) and the river trails (Gawler Urban Rivers project)
A beautiful steel guitar music piece, ‘The Gawler River’, was composed for the soundtrack by Dan Musil.
The film also drew on footage from the Gawler Environment and Heritage Association’s film (2007) about the river, featuring shots taken from the glider of local aviator Noel Roediger.
The project has had major support from the Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges Natural Resources Management Board and Gawler Council. Light Council has also assisted with work on the north bank of the river
Free copies of the DVD will be made available to local schools and environmental groups. Further copies will be available for purchase from the Gawler Regional Natural Resource Centre or from our online shop.
