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What! Plant a tree in the middle of the MCG!

By Stephen Murphy posted 17-07-2024 11:47

  

A deep dive into the history of the MCG.

The year is 2016 and I’m looking through the window of the expansive lounge above the hallowed grounds of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG or G). I’m feeling a bit awe-struck because like many Australians I associate the MCG with big events: the 1956 Olympics, the VFL/AFL grand final and extravaganza concerts like Guns N’ Roses, Ed Sheeran and recently Taylor Swift. The crusader Billy Graham attracted the biggest crowd of 130,000 in 1959.

Graham’s sermon to his many devotees segues to my view that the MCG is considered a ‘spiritual place,’ indeed a ‘sacred place’ by many Australians. This is the product of human folklore that began long before modern history, possibly over 60,000 years ago; but more about that later.
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Sadly, I wasn’t at the MCG to yell myself hoarse at the footy or to scream ecstatically a concert. I was there for a National Landcare conference to speak on sustainable design and conserving biodiversity. Sounds a little ‘ho-hum’ in comparison doesn’t it?

For most Australians, ‘sustainable biorich revegetation’ would sound very mundane, and that thought worried me a lot as I looked through the window. Here we were at the MCG, about 400 members of an Australia wide community based network that works very hard to improve the natural environment for the good of everyone. Yet for most people this event and the admirable efforts of Landcare sit well below their radar.

How to put a Landcare event on their radar?
It's been 161 years since a River Red Gum has been seen on the 2ha paddock called the MCG.

It's been 161 years since a River Red Gum has been seen on the 2ha paddock called the MCG. Image: Tian Murphy

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