Wildlife is a program of day camps jointly organised by A Rocha Australia, Scripture Union Australia, and TearFund Australia that encourages people to explore the wonders and diversity of God’s creation. It provides a day-long adventure for families, children, and adults to immerse themselves in a particular natural environment and discover the creatures and plants that live there.
The most recent Wildlife took place at the Point Cooke Marine Sanctuary which is on the traditional lands of the Burnong people located on the North-West shore of Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. More than thirty adults and children attended the camp and were led by marine experts Nicole, Dominic, Susie, and Andrew from the conservation organisation Coastcare Point Cook.
Our first exploration was a beachcombing walk where we collected a variety of marine biodiversity that had been washed ashore. We soon filled our basket with a variety of colourful and intriguing objects. After the tide had receded and exposed the inter-tidal rock zone it was time to get our feet wet and search for the crabs that were living in crevices and under rocks.
Susie and Andrew then guided us through the task of identifying all the wonderful dead and live creatures and objects we had found. There were multiple kinds of brown and green seaweed algae, the shells of molluscs including Cart Rut and Mud Arc shells, urchin shells, the tubes of tubeworms, seasquirts, at least five different kinds of shore crabs including the Purple-Mottled Crab, and, regrettably, several marine pest species including Northern Pacific Seastar.
There was intense concentration among the children as they found out the particular names of seaweed, shells, and crabs. The children also seemed fascinated that there was so much diversity: why so many kinds of different shells and such a variety of subtly different crabs.
After the identification task was completed all the objects and creatures were returned to where we found them.
Exploring Different Habitats
One of the aims of Wildlife camps is to provide an opportunity for our young and old supporters to experience the diversity between different natural habitats and the biodiversity that each habitat contains.
Previous camps have taken place at Yea Wetlands, Werribee Open Range Zoo, and Ceres Education Centre. At Yea we found a variety of different critters including plants, animals, frogs, birds and even tiny organisms living in water. At Ceres community garden and urban farm we heard Eastern Banjo Frogs calling with their characteristic pobblebonk sound demonstrating that biodiversity can live even in environments primarily devoted to food production so long as the land is managed in a holistic manner. At Werribee Zoo we were transported to an African plain environment and as we watched the Ostriches we were reminded that these birds share many similarities with our Australian emus and cassowaries and that biodiversity shares a scale of connectedness across our planet.
Why So Much Diversity?
Why should the natural world be so diverse? Why should there be about 1200 species of crabs in Australia? Surely a smaller number of different crabs would suffice! The question that children asked at Point Cooke as to why there are different kinds of crabs is the kind of question asked through history by artists, scientists, theologians, and policy makers who have pondered why there should be so much biodiversity. St Thomas Aquinas thought that God’s “…goodness could not be adequately represented by one creature alone, (so) He produced many and diverse creatures”. Charles Darwin, after observing the range of different creatures living together on a tangled bank celebrated that “endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.” The Australian Government’s State of the Environment report claimed that Australia is home to about 600 000 native species of fauna and flora with hundreds of new species being described each year, and that perhaps 70% of our living things are yet to be discovered. And God, speaking out of the whirlwind, took Job on a tour of his creation by pointing out the diversity of creatures ranging from the wild to domesticated, small to large, and common to the amazing.
Diversity is something that we can all observe and appreciate in nature. It is something that makes us ponder why the natural is created the way it is, what an incredible gift that God has created and given us, and it is something that can inspire curiosity, worship, care, and awe. It might also lead to lament when we see it destroyed.
We look forward to exploring another habitat during the next Wildlife and finding the plants and animals that call it home.