Former Noosa Mayor Tony Wellington has switched the council chamber for local landscapes as he releases a new photographic book celebrating Noosa wildlife.
As an avid wildlife photographer, Mr Wellington said one of his greatest pleasures was to wander the local landscape with a camera, quietly eavesdropping on Noosa’s remarkable fauna.
“I am interested in everything from bugs to birds. And the more I look, the more I discover about nature’s miraculous complexities,“ he said.
“Now that I’m no longer in politics, I can at last get back to my elemental passions. The time seemed right to share some of what I’ve discovered about our non-human neighbours in a new book, Wild About Noosa.”
Wild About Noosa is a beautiful hard-cover, coffee-table book with 200 pages of full colour photographs plus descriptive and often witty text about the creatures captured by Wellington’s lens. It is Tony Wellington’s sixth published book.
“It’s not a field guide but rather a love poem for this very special part of the world. Those of us who live here are very lucky to be surrounded by such wild abundance. And it’s important that we don’t take it for granted.
“For over half a century, passionate locals have committed themselves to conserving Noosa’s natural assets. As a result, more than half of the Noosa Shire is covered with native vegetation. That makes Noosa an important stronghold in the battle to retain our nation’s biodiversity.
“But it’s not just in the forest that wildlife resides. The bird in the backyard is just as important as the bird in the bush. Many animals have learnt to adapt to living alongside or amongst we humans: indeed, some have even profited from that relationship. But others are certainly being crowded out, with habitat loss an ongoing issue across Queensland and across the planet.
“My book celebrates both the hidden and the more commonplace creatures on our doorstep, from the shy platypus to the gregarious rainbow lorikeet.
“Simply enjoying nature is an essential step in helping to conserve it.”
Wild About Noosa is available from Noosa bookstores, including Annie’s Books On Peregian, Sandy Pages at Noosa Junction, Village Books in Hastings Street and A Little Shop of Soul in Cooroy. RRP is $50.
