In 200 years people at Ingham will know Rotary thought of the future

The project that came to the fore was the Tyto Wetlands.

The Hinchinbrook Shire Council and John Young, the wild detective and cinematographer, were approached and Ingham Rotary was welcomed to be involved.

A naturalist, John Young is from Ingham and has been capturing Australia's wildlife on film and tape for more than 20 years. He planned the restoration of the wetlands.

The Ingham club’s representatives, Karyn Bliesner and Rodger Bow, worked within the community to promote Tyto wetlands and to encourage students, groups, individuals and businesses to be active in this development and to experience Tyto’s unique wildlife.

The Tyto Wetlands project has economic benefits for the Ingham district, but negative comments on its value prompted an open day, Tyto by Twilight, to be held. This showed people that Ingham had a wetlands right in the middle of town.

The Rotary Club of Ingham hosted Tyto by Twilight by sending out invitations and running an item in the newspaper. John Young was there to introduce the project and take questions.

The Herbert River Express provided extensive media coverage in a two-page colour spread of the wetlands. As a result more than 200 people passed through the front gate to gain an insight into the project.

For many years the entrance to the suburb of Rossmoyne, W.A., was blighted by an area of construction waste from the building of Shelley Bridge and Leach Highway and the re-alignment of High Road more than 10 years earlier.
The waste area straddled the boundary of the City of Melville and the City of Canning.

The Rotary Club of Rossmoyne in 1988 was looking for a community service project, so it opened discussions with the City of Canning which led to discussions with the City of Melville. An agreement was reached between the councils and the Rotary Club of Rossmoyne to rehabilitate the area which covered more than a hectare.

For 17 years members of the Rossmoyne Rotary Club have worked tirelessly to level and revegetate the site.
The area was littered with concrete debris and in the early years members supplied heavy earthmoving equipment to clear the site.

When the land was level, it certainly did not have the best soil for future plantings of trees.
The club planted more than 10,000 seedlings, acquired from a variety of sources which included the club propagating and nurturing its own seedlings.

However, given the soil quality base, a lack of water on-site and weed infestation, the club achieved a 10 per cent success rate.
That was sufficient to rehabilitate the area to what is today a natural bush environment in the heart of suburbia.
At a ceremony in August this year the mayors of the City of Canning and the City of Melville, Doctor Mick Lekias and Katherine Jackson unveiled a commemorative plaque situated on the boundary of the two cities within the rehabilitated area.

The plaque reads ‘‘Yagan Reserve Rehabilitation and Revegetation Project completed by the Rotary Club of
Rossmoyne together with the Cities of Canning and Melville 1988–2005 in commemoration of the 100th birthday of Rotary International’’.