Plumwood

On a misty November evening I drove the long driveway into Plumwood, going deeper into the mist, and deeper into the magic of the Monga forest. After a while navigating a slippery road and crossing the misty threshold, I eventually arrived at Plumwood Mountain.

I felt a palpable story in the air - one of defiance, deep engagement with the land, and a fight for justice—both ecological and human.

The former caretakers, Ruby and Clancy, meet me at the door of a hand-built roundhouse that is clearly made with a lot of love and a lot of dedication to a life spent in deep engagement with nature. We wander the garden, and amongst ancient trees, shrills of lyrebirds and the throaty call of frogs, lies Val Plumwood’s gravestone, slowly being overcome with moss, just the way she’d like it, I imagine. Ruby and Clancy tell me about the history of this important place in both local and Australian history.

Val Plumwood (1939 – 2008) was one of Australia’s most radical environmental thinkers, a woman who spent her life challenging how we see nature. And now, more than a decade after her passing, her former Mountain home is becoming a place where conservation and justice come together to rewrite the future of this land. While the residential area remains leased to the volunteer-run trust organisation, Plumwood Incorporated, the wider Voluntary Conservation Area of Plumwood Mountain is now owned by the Bateman’s Bay Local Aboriginal Land Council and cared for by the Walbunja Rangers.

Val Plumwood is a renowned ecofeminist philosopher, who was also found on the frontlines of environmental activism. In the 1970s and ‘80s, she was deep in the battle to save the South Coast forests from logging, working alongside other activists to halt destruction that would have wiped out old-growth ecosystems. The Monga Forest Campaign—one of the biggest victories of the time—was driven by this kind of relentless dedication, eventually leading to the creation of Deua and Budawang National Parks.

These are parks I take my children to regularly to enjoy the wonder of the sparkling fresh water, to make cubbies under the ancient fern trees. These places are home to numerous species of plant and animal life that enrich our lives with wonder and beauty - greater gliders, spotted quolls, lyrebirds, waratahs. I am sure many local residents cannot imagine life without these protected areas, and we have Val and the efforts of previous activists to inspire us to continue their work.

While simultaneously pushing back the logging trucks, she contributed to important conversations that pushed back hard against cultural ideas that are built on the artificial divide between humans and nature, treating the environment as something to dominate and control, arguing that we needed a whole new way of seeing the world, one that “recognised humans as just another part of a vast, interconnected web of life”.

And she didn’t just talk about it—she lived it. Up here in this remote home, there was no choice but to be swamped by nature - the sounds, smells, textures, feelings, seasons, bleeding into all of life, into dreams, into ideas, into her heart. Her work is unfortunately more and more relevant as biodiversity loss increases across the globe. Her voice matters, still. She asks us to build relationship with nature. Which is why it is a fitting evolution for the Plumwood Mountain site to be handed over to the Bateman’s Bay Local Aboriginal Land Council and Walbunja Rangers, who can bring traditional methods of land management and cultural activity back to this place.

I leave with a full heart, grateful that Val fought hard for her ideas, made herself heard, and managed to protect what she, and so many, hold so dear.

I hope she watches from her mossy grave with joy.

You can engage with the legacy of Val by visiting the Plumwood website, which has info about upcoming events, residencies, and public programs at Plumwood Mountain – as well as further information about Plumwood Inc’s vision to “work together to facilitate decolonial and eco-cultural change”.

Get in touch with Plumwood Inc. HERE Or, learn more about how Walbunja custodians are caring for Country via the Walbunja Rangers website HERE.

instagram.com/plumwoodmountain

Words: Rose Ricketson

Photos: Christopher Morris