Tonight’s Ringwood Historical Society meeting focused on the environmental and natural history of Maroondah, with presenters from Maroondah Bushlinks and the Friends of Mullum Mullum Valley.

Maroondah Bushlinks is an umbrella organisation that represents the bushcare groups located within Maroondah. The group provides a combined voice for the many volunteers that are involved in caring for Maroondah’s bush reserves.

One of those reserves is Warrien Reserve, which is a 5.26 ha bush reserve located in Warrien Road Croydon. The reserve was acquired by the then Shire of Lillydale in 1948 and has been overseen by a committee of management since 1959.

Additions to the reserve have been acquired throughout the past fifty years including recent additions by the City of Maroondah in 2007.
The committee and volunteers work to enhance the bush reserve through planting indigenous flora and removing weeds.

The Friends of Mullum Mullum Valley was formed in 1991 to preserve the natural flora and fauna of the 22km Mullum Mullum Valley. The Mullum Mullum is significant as it the only creek within metropolitan Melbourne that still retains its natural environment for most of its length.

While the true meaning of the name Mullum Mullum has not been documented the name is derived from Woiwurrung language, which was spoken by the Wurundjeri and is thought to mean “place of many big birds”.

Alternatively it is also suggested that the name was a mistranslation of Ballum Ballum a Wurundjeri expression that means “place of many butterflies”.

The name recognises the importance of the Mullum Mullum for the Wurundjeri people who utilised the Valley as a food source within the remnant bushland.

The Mullum Mullum has four distinct sections and passes through the municipalities of Maroondah, Whitehorse and Manningham before joining the Yarra River. The Friends of Mullum Mullum have been active in protecting the Valley and formed the Community of Ringwood Indigenous Species and Plant Nursery (otherwise known as CRISP) in 1992 to provide a source of native plants to assist in revegetation.

CRISP is now an independent incorporated association based at the former City of Ringwood depot in Greenwood Avenue, Ringwood and provides plants that are indigenous to the local Ringwood area.

The Friends of Mullum Mullum Valley’s efforts have been successfully protecting and improving the remnant bushland throughout the Creek and Valley. As a result the numbers of indigenous flora and fauna has increased, with the the Mullum Mullum Creek providing habitat for the highest density of platypus in the whole of the Yarra River catchment.

The presentations this evening reinforced the environmental value within Ringwood and its surrounds and demonstrates the need to preserve our natural environment.