32. Regeneration Reserve

The damage to the delicate ecology of the Broken Hill region, after decades of grazing and mining, was devastating. Timber-getting for mining operations created dust storms which left behind high banks of sand-drift. 

Albert and Margaret Morris helped establish the Barrier Field Naturalists Club in 1920. The Morrises collected seeds from native flora and built their own herbarium, becoming experts on how to re-stabilise the soil, eliminate dust storms, and restore habitats for indigenous species. In the mid-1930s, they petitioned the Zinc Corporation Ltd. to support this regeneration zone around the city. Trees and shrubs and desert flowers have since been planted to restore native flora and fauna and the zone now protects Broken Hill from dust storms. Plants that have regenerated well include mulga, eremophila, cassia and hop bushes.

Audio transcript available.