Engagement, education & connection
The mental and physical health benefits of being in nature are well documented from improved mood to boosting immunity (click here to cite a few sources). FoTW run a host of projects engaging participants and the wider community to deepen their understanding of the Wetlands and appreciate its importance and subtle beauty. As you work alongside others in the local community connections are formed and this creates a passion to protect and care for this special environment and the non-human species that live here.
- Working Bee Plantings: 1993- ongoing. Continuously we plant indigenous basalt plain flowers, grasses, trees and gahnia to encourage the Altona Skipper Butterfly, insects, reptiles, lizards, birds (more?) that have lived here for thousands of years. Click to… Photos from over the years
- Entrance Revamp part of Retarding Basin Activation Plan Date?- ongoing. Click to … MW & HBCC have given us an area to experiment with as part of a design to revamp the entrance to the park. We are currently laying out the foundation for future development using mulch and logs donated by Kooringal Golf Course … photos
- Signs Refresh: 2020 – ongoing. Click to… .FoTW was awarded a grant from the City of Melbourne Metro Tunnel in collaboration with MW to install wayfinding and interpretive signs to enhance the experience of being in the wetland.
- Oral Histories: 2024- ongoing. Click to…Recording the history of the swamp through the memories of locals who have cared for, played and grew up in its wilds
- Eco-Inking in/with the Wetland: 2023. Click to…With artist Annie Bolitho: over two weekends a diverse group of locals ranging from 7 to 70 discovered how the plants of Truganina Wetlands could be made into colours for dying and painting. Time was spent foraging in the Wetlands and then at the Louis Joel Community Centre exploring how to use these nature-based dyes. Immersed in its creative practice, one participant said they could “feel the peace that taking time being with the Wetland can bring”. Photos
- Nature Journaling: 2025 TBA