By Sonia Isaacs
WHEN Ian Webster and Di Lanskey first stood on their steep, scrub-choked 32-acre block at Flaxton in 2002, most people saw a failed cattle property. They saw an opportunity – not just to create a home, but to bring a forest back to life.
Nearly 25 years on, the couple’s tireless rehabilitation of their land on the Blackall Range has been honoured at the recent Biosphere Awards, where they received the Healthy Planet Award, sponsored by Australia Zoo.
Through sheer persistence, they have transformed a degraded, weed-infested block into a flourishing haven of native forest, planting more than 38,000 local native trees and helping restore precious habitat along the Kondalilla National Park boundary.
It’s recognition the pair never expected. “We were the only individual landholders in our category,” Ian said. “The other finalists were big organisations – universities, major conservation projects. We just thought, ‘We haven’t got a chance.’ We were completely surprised.
For Ian, the seeds of this lifelong project were planted long before he ever saw the Flaxton block. Growing up near Wagga, he remembers driving past stripped hillsides, the trees ringbarked and dead. “I used to wonder what it was like when there were trees everywhere,” he recalled.
Another powerful influence was a simple children’s story. “There was this little golden book called Johnny Appleseed,” Ian said. “All he did was travel around planting trees. I thought that was pretty good. I suppose that was always in the back of my mind.”
When the couple, then living and working in Brisbane, spotted a real estate ad while holidaying in Noosa, they decided to look at a property that was “more than our budget but sounded lovely.” The block they found was rugged, steep and in poor condition – but full of possibility.
“There were paddocks, erosion, weeds – a hell of a mess,” Ian said. “But there was also a big chance to do something with it.”
Di came to the project through a deep love of plants rather than formal conservation training.
“I’ve always loved gardening,” she said. “I didn’t know much about restoration, but anything that meant working outside, I was in.”
From day one, they started clearing invasive weeds like lantana on weekends, armed with little more than a mattock and a couple of 10-litre buckets. They stayed in a local caravan park, spending every spare moment on the land.
They quickly joined Land for Wildlife, later securing a Voluntary Conservation Agreement (VCA) with Sunshine Coast Council to permanently protect the property. The VCA is now written on the title, ensuring future owners cannot clear the forest, run cattle, or undo decades of work.
For Di, the driving passion has always been the trees themselves. “Most of the attention goes to the cute animals – the ones with the fluffy coats and pretty faces,” she said. “But the trees are the foundation of it all. No tree, no me. Even when they’re dead, they’re still habitat. I just feel they’ve been forgotten, and I want them to have more prominence.”
Over the years, Ian and Di have planted more than 38,000 native trees, carefully choosing local endemic species with guidance from conservation officers, Sunshine Coast Council, and Barung Landcare.
“A lot of people say, ‘We’ll plant natives,’ but they might be native to Western Australia or far north Queensland,” Ian said. “If they’re not native to here, they can become a problem. We wanted to plant what originally belonged on this land.”
Their reward has been watching paddocks turn into forest. A regenerating canopy now shades rich leaf litter; understory plants are returning; and wildlife is moving back in.
One of their proudest discoveries is a 650-year-old eucalypt on the edge of Baxter Creek – a massive habitat tree that has quietly survived centuries of change.“To be able to stand next to a tree like that is just magical,” Ian said.
Despite describing themselves wryly as “a couple of old farts on a rugged block of land,” the couple still work on the property every day. They have hosted Land for Wildlife walks and workshops, welcomed council staff and conservation officers, and contributed articles to the South East Queensland Land for Wildlife magazine.
“There are times you ask, ‘Are we finished yet?’” Ian admitted. “You have a lot of lows. But then you have the highs – when you find a new species, or realise that what was once a paddock is now a forest.”
Di hopes their story encourages others not to be intimidated by the scale of the task. “It’s been hard at times – landslips after big rain, starting again in places – but it’s worth it,” she said. “We’re leaving a legacy for future generations. And once the forest starts to look after itself, it gives so much back.”
For Ian and Di, the Healthy Planet Award is less a personal accolade than a tribute to every landholder quietly restoring a corner of country. “We accepted it on behalf of all the other landowners up here doing the same thing,” Di said. “It shows what can happen when you give nature and people a bit of help.”
(Pictures: Supplied)
