Byron Bay - the pearl of the New South Wales Northern Rivers, nestled beside pristine beaches and fringed by verdant rainforest. Mary Gardner walks, snorkels and dreams amid the natural beauties that make this region unique. ."Plant a tree grow a fish" heralds a new style of nature writing, unapologetically fashioning poetry, science, history and observation into a glittering mosaic. More than a field guide, Mary has written a love story from her marine ecologist's perspective. This book is for anyone whose imagination and curiosity are piqued by Byron Bay's treasury of coastal and hinterland riches. Creatures from anemones to sand bubbler crabs, platypuses to brush turkeys, whales to plankton are examined and celebrated. Landscape and flora are gloriously revealed, from the tiniest native orchid to the ubiquitous casuarinas to the fragile wallum heath lands. Overall looms the threat of unsustainable, rapacious development and a ticking clock, urging the need to act now, before all is lost.
'Plant a tree, grow a fish - Nature essays from Byron Bay' by Mary Gardner.
About the author (2023)
Mary Gardner washed up on the shores of Byron Bay with two degrees in natural science tucked under her belt. On her first day she met sea turtles. Born and raised in the USA with formative childhood holidays at the beach at Cape Cod, Mary travelled to New Zealand where she spent two decades studying as a mature age student. With her marine ecologist's perspective on life, she searched for a subtropical catchment to get to know and ciao Byron Bay. In the confluence of waters where the forest meets the sea, she discovered a deep sense of place and wonder. Her fascination for local knowledge and water cycles led to a Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental Science. Her observational walking and snorkelling adventures unearthed local creatures and plants which she passionately documented in her Tangles of Life columns for The Byron Shire Echo. Mary is famous for encouraging all to think like a fish
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