2008 Port Phillip and Western Port Landcare Awards
Brian Bainbridge was the winner of the Caring for Community Groups in the 2008 Port Phillip and Western port Landcare Awards. His nomination and award victory was an inspiration to the 250 people in attendance at the celebration held at Zinc in Federation Square.
In his usual self deprecating way, Brain said “I appreciate winning the award but its really the people that have been part of the journey that deserve the recognition. They are people who do work like this all around the catchment, groups like the Merri Creek Landcare Group who I have worked with.”
Brian Bainbridge is just one of our many heroes who continues to make our world a better place to live. Brian, who lives in Fawkner, has played a key role in providing knowledge and empowering members of a range of community groups to undertake action and deliver on-ground results. He possesses a superb knowledge of local flora, fauna and restoration ecology, impressive artistic skills and a commitment to share his love of the local environment with the community.
He is an inspirational winner. Here is his story: Brian’s interest in the environment began when he was only four. He was fascinated by his mother’s Tetley tea cards featuring Australian birds, and was bird-watching before he started school. Brian also enjoyed gardening from very early on, taking cuttings and propagating flower seeds when he was about five. He remembers catching tadpoles with his older brothers and exploring around the Plenty River near the family home in Greensborough. He believes that the pathway alongside the river was very important in developing his environmental interests. As he grew older, he explored further north, past the end of the path and into the more natural areas.
Another talent he exhibited early on was drawing and he felt “driven” to draw birds and to follow bird calls to find the bird. Once he followed up a call for over a kilometre, taking over an hour to find the bird. The amount of time he has spent listening to calls has given him a good ear for identifying them from their calls. Brian’s early love of nature led to his family giving him the affectionate nick-name “nature boy” and he clearly lived up to it by being able to recognise indigenous plants from weeds at age 12.
During his teens he discovered an 1880’s aqueduct in St Helena. Brian enjoyed taking photos and sketching around the aqueduct as the area had been regularly burnt, making it rich in wildflowers. However, while he was studying for his HSC, the area was destroyed.
This affected him “like a physical kick in the guts” and he never wanted to see it repeated. He attended Melbourne University and Creswick campus for four years, graduating with a Bachelor of Forest Science. During this time he continued drawing and he developed his observational skills by going on walks with a journal which included sketches. His studies included assisting with a botanical survey in East Gippsland. After graduating, Brian worked in his parents’ bookshop and in 1992 he was invited to do some illustrations for Plants of the Merri Merri. This was his first contact with Merri Creek Management Committee (MCMC), which later employed him as an illustrator for Creek Life.
This work launched his career as an intermittent freelance wildlife illustrator. His artwork can be seen on some of the signs along Merri Creek; in the entrance to the Observatory at the Botanic Gardens; on promotions for Hume City Council’s annual planting festival; and in the leaflet for the Merri Creek Walking Path.
In 1994, Brian started work at Merri Creek Management Committee (MCMC) and he credits former MCMC employees Barb Miles and Judy Bush with fostering his professional development and a good understanding of the “human heart” behind revegetation work. Soon after starting at MCMC, he joined the Friends of Merri Creek. He is inspired by the improvements to sites such as Central Creek Grasslands in Reservoir and he gets a real buzz from leading walks like the Wild Discovery Walk at Cooper St Grasslands.
Brian has chosen to live near Jukes Rd Grasslands in Fawkner and to not own a car, so he cycles to work at MCMC in East Brunswick along the Merri path. He is also a keen photographer, an active member of the Friends of Merri Creek’s Upper Merri Campaign group and President of the local Fawkner Community House, as well as being on its gardening group. He is excited by the scope for raising environmental awareness in his culturally diverse neighbourhood. |