photo: Robert Thomas
JB Rowley has accepted an invitation to
become an ambassador for the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. JB
is excited to support the Foundation by raising awareness of the plight of the
mountain pygmy-possum, and funds for the mountain pygmy-possum captive breeding
program.
How, you might ask, did a storyteller end
up in such a valuable role? Actually, the journey started when JB was just a
skinny bush kid growing up in East Gippsland, an area that is home to many
endangered and threatened species including pygmy-possums.
The Australian bush was JB’s playground.
She swam in the creeks with frogs, climbed trees looking for koalas and
searched for shy wildflowers. Australian animals were her friends and
playmates. She chased lizards and snakes down hollow logs, looked after birds’
eggs, helped to raise baby birds and care for injured animals. The laugh of
kookaburras, the warble of magpies and the song of lyrebirds was a daily
symphony while the hoot of owls was a nightly lullaby. JB’s father often took
the family for Sunday drives to Errinundra Plateau meandering through the old
growth forests - remnants of Gondwana.
All of these childhood experiences come
together in JB’s book, Trapped in Gondwana, which takes children into an adventure through the Gondwana
forests with a range of interesting characters such as Pari, the mountain
pygmy-possum. It was this book that caught the attention of the people at the
Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife and led to the invitation to
become an ambassador. And that’s where JB the storyteller steps in to use her
skills as an oral storyteller to raise awareness of the critically endangered
mountain pygmy possum.
JB is especially proud to support the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife, which is the only organisation in Australia
whose philanthropy is an investment in our public estate, our unique species,
and our cultural heritage – for all to enjoy.
Links:
Trapped
in Gondwana: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007S8YVE8
FNPW ambassador page: http://fnpw.org.au/ambassadors
FNPW home page: http://fnpw.org.au/
