Flagship funding great news for North Coast’s Bungawalbyn Creek

live in widening circles that reach out across the world…The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things.”

Nearby I’d locate Oscar Wilde, “Only the shallow know themselves… Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals.” Perched smirkingly beside this eternal life of the party would be his German equivalent, Frederich Nietzsche, “If we could communicate with the mosquito, then we’d discover that it floats with the same selfimportance… I searched for great human beings but I only ever found the apes of their ideals.”

To soften and keep the above two firebrand personalities (who both died in 1900) on their toes, I’d put the Catholic mystic, Simone Weil, “May the eternal light give, not a reason for living and working, but a sense of completeness which makes the search for any such reason unnecessary…We have to rediscover the original pact between the spirit and the world in this civilisation of which we form a part.” To bolster the balance, I’d then add our own trail-blazing Miles Franklin, “The world nevertheless is enchanting, the biggest tragedy is that we are such ephemeral moths.”

The remaining tables would be peppered by people as diverse as Barangaroo, Kafka, Cleopatra, Tagore, Thoreau, Hypatia, Beethoven, Basho, Albert Camus, Confucius, and of course the quickest quickthinker of all – Voltaire, “Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”

The Minns Government has allocated a $158,000 grant to restore 1,600m² of fsh habitat along Bungawalbyn Creek, a key tributary of the Richmond River and a popular bass fshing destination. This funding is part of the Flagship Fish Habitat Rehabilitation Grant Program, which supports projects that enhance fsh habitats across

NSW. The project at Bungawalbyn Creek will focus on installing a mix of habitat structures, including rock formations, snags, and riparian vegetation along 200 meters of the creek’s banks, providing diverse environments for different fsh species. This initiative aims to safeguard the creek’s ecosystem, which holds high conservation value, and further support its role as a recreational bass fshing spot. Bungawalbyn Creek is well-regarded for its biodiversity, making it a crucial site for both local fsh populations and recreational fshing enthusiasts. The grant is part of a broader government commitment to improve fsh habitats across the state’s coastal regions through the

NSW Recreational Fishing Trust, funded by the NSW Recreational Fishing Fee.

Minister for Agriculture and Regional NSW, Tara Moriarty, emphasized the importance of these grants in assisting fsh stocks, particularly following recent extreme natural events that have impacted North Coast waterways.

State Member for Lismore, Janelle Saffn, also highlighted the environmental signifcance of the project, noting the creek’s rich biodiversity and the community support for its rehabilitation.

For more details, visit the NSW Government’s website or the Recreational Fishing Trust information page.