Today the dominant impression of the Southern Highlands is of extensive green meadows, and quaint English-style countryside, perched between wild hills and gorges of native scrub.

 

This appearance, however, is due to the land clearing and farming practices of the early settlers.

 

During the earliest settlement over 150 years ago, the Highlands presented a picture of thick, often impenetrable forest and scrub.

This gave way to more sparsely treed shrub and grasslands along the floodplains of the Wingecarribee River, which rises in the ranges behind Mt. Gibraltar, and flows inland.

 

It is not surprising that the earliest settlers chose these river ways in their earliest expeditions towards Goulburn and the southern interior of the continent, and one of the earliest settlements was placed there (Bong Bong).

 

Thereafter the settlers proceeded to clear the land, and recreate it in their vision of what they remembered of England. European grasses were sown on the first grazing lands, and European conifers and deciduous trees planted on properties, in towns and backyards.

Several vast pine forests were also planted (Penrose and Belanglo State Forests). These plantings give the area much of the character it has today.

 

However, you don't have too go far in any direction to find yourself back in the bush of pre-settlement times, and everywhere among the alpine conifers and picturesque deciduous trees of old Europe can be seen the native vegetation.

 

Large areas have been luckily preserved in the past - some by design (Morton National Park - which previously had the less pretentious name "Bundanoon Gullies") - and some by default, the vast forests which surround the catchment areas of the dams to the north and east which provide the water supplies to Sydney and the South Coast.

 

Of late, the 'Pinus Radiata' planted in their thousands by earlier nostalgic settlers - especially in townships and gardens - have been recognised as a noxious weed, and the Council is encouraging their removal.

This will bring the townscape environment closer to that of its surrounding countryside, and encourage the preservation of native bird and animal life.

 

Several nurseries in the area specialise in propagating native plants, and homeowners are beginning to see their usefulness for landscaping.

 

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