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Members, friends and supporters are invited to join us to meet like-minded people and watch the sun setting over the southern Blue Mountains.

If perchance it is cloudy or even raining, seen from the shelter of the Conservation Hut, the national park has its own beauty no matter what the weather and there will be friendship, entertainment and supper inside The Hut.

Dawn Egan renown Celtic harpist will entertain us.

Our Bushfire Representative, Hugh Paterson, will give a short talk, addressing what happened in our recent bushfire crisis and what we can all do from here to help.

On display will be some maps of the Greater Blue Mountains showing the areas impacted by the bushfires.

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Our Blue Mountains Bushfires & Air Quality has a new permanent home. It's now Blue Mountains Bushfire Watch

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The massive fires occurring across Australia are devastating. The extent, duration and ferocity of the fires is unprecedented in recent times.

The Society is deeply saddened by the loss of life. We offer our heartfelt sympathy to those who have lost a family member, friend or acquaintance. Our thoughts are with all who have been impacted by the fires.

We thank those who have, and who continue to, work to suppress and contain these fires. We applaud the courage of the fire fighters on the frontline and continue to be concerned for their safety. We think of communities directly impacted by fires. We recognise the efforts of rescuers and carers who are working to aid wildlife.

Prolonged and extreme high temperatures coupled with greatly reduced rainfall, extraordinarily low humidity and periods of high and variable winds, have produced fire conditions and fire behaviours previously unknown in the Blue Mountains and Australia.

The extreme and erratic weather behaviour and resultant conditions exemplify the predictions of climate scientists in regard to the impacts of global warming and rapid climate change.

Our full statement describes the impacts on the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, what should be done for the Greater Blue Mountains environment, and immediate, fundamental and medium term actions needed.

We call on both the Commonwealth and State Governments to take immediate action to mitigate rapid climate change. Unless this is done, efforts to address this fire season will be wasted.

Here's our full Bushfire Statement

Here's the Gazette article

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68% of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA) was burnt, and an estimated 123 million native animals impacted.

Although 80% of the GBMWHA is within "fire boundaries", 12% of this has been identified as being unburnt.

These figures are the result of detailed analysis by Peter Smith provided in his paper - Impact of the 2019-20 Fires on the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area

The burnt area of each of the eight reserves of the GBMWHA has been calculated.

Peter has also calculated the number of animals impacted by multiplying likely densities of animals* in unburnt habitat by the number of hectares burnt.

The densities are very rough estimates, but are the best available for NSW.

In any case, it is clear that huge numbers of animals have been impacted and most of them have died as a result of the drought, the fires and the shortage of food, water and shelter after the fires.

The unprecedented scale of the fires, leaving few unburnt refuges from which to recolonise, makes the recovery of the fauna highly problematic.

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It's estimated that more than one billion animals have been killed in these bushfires and the surviving wildlife face a dire future.

Over 140 million animals in the GBMWHA have been impacted - see Peter Smith's analysis above.

A local resident, the Glossy Black-Cockatoo, provides a clear picture of its post-bushfire plight. Its habitat is almost entirely within the bushfires footprint.

It will only be when our national parks are re-opened can we assess the real damage and develop recovery strategies.

An early estimate is that 75-80% of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area as been affected.

Please give some thought to donating to the Foundation of National Parks and Wildlife or WIRES (NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service).

The following letter, from Debbie Andrew, former NPWS officer, appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald on Monday 13 January -

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Here's the NSW Government's Wildlife and Conservation Bushfire Recovery document.

The preface by the The Hon. Matthew Kean MP, Minister for Energy and Environment reads in part -

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Our Destination Pagoda movie was shown to a full house at Mount Vic Flicks on 2 July.

We are now reviewing options for the next screening.

To support the Destination Pagoda vision for a Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area, write a letter to the Hon. Paul Toole, Member for Bathurst and Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, seeking his support for our detailed reserve establishment plan called Destination Pagoda. Mr. Toole’s electorate includes the Gardens of Stone unprotected area.

Here's how to send a letter.

It's very important that Mr. Toole hears from supporters on this proposal. The proposal is at a critical time.

Destination Pagoda proposes a world class tourism and conservation reserve on Lithgow’s doorstep. A new reserve, called the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area, will complete Myles Dunphy’s visionary 1932 Blue Mountains National Park scheme.

A key design element of Destination Pagoda is the creation of low-key visitor opportunities close to Lithgow beside upgraded existing road access linked to the town. The gentle plateau terrain with its distinctive pagoda rocks contain many sites for a variety of family-suitable, low-key visitor facilities that combine to give Lithgow’s Gardens of Stone great potential to attract visitors interested in experiencing nature.

The beauty of the Destination Pagoda scheme is that new visitor facilities can be established beside pagoda landscapes of great scenic beauty around Lithgow that are need of restoration and rehabilitation, while more remote, pristine landscapes are protected.

The forests next to Lithgow are amongst the most diverse in NSW and contain 84 threatened plant and animal species, including the Blue Mountains Water Skink and Giant Dragonfly, as well as 16 rare and threatened communities. They deserve effective conservation management by the NPWS.

Visit our Gardens of Stone webpages.

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