Who were they and why don't we know more about them?

So the Druids of Doomba Lunga, which is the name of one of the chapters in the book, is about the McGullambidge people who were lived on and around Mount Buffalo.

And they basically had a reputation for hundreds of kilometres surrounding Mount Buffalo as a kind of spiritual, you could even say priestly class.

When they were up on Mount Buffalo, they received new knowledge and new song and ceremony from the spirit world.

And they communicated that to surrounding tribes as a form of like, spiritual nourishment, um, and teaching.

And I only heard this story for the first time last year, actually.

Um, I read about it in a paper by Dr. Jackie Durant, who did a lot of research into it, um, with, uh, Deuterowa people who the McGullumbidge were like a sort of sub, um, tribe of.

We always see them through sort of European eyes or something.

It does a bit.

[laughs] But it actually...

We, we think that it's gonna be really key to unlocking the funding and resources to try and tackle the problem at an ecosystem level because, you know- The scientists that we talked to that are trying to look into things like how could we slow the spread of the beetle? What are the best, you know, land management practices to stop fire getting through the Alps so frequently? They are severely underfunded, um, and barely anyone even knows, like, the crucial work that they're doing.

So, you know, in our minds, they're, they're absolutely unsung national heroes.

Um, but yeah, they, they can't do the work that we desperately need them to do unless they have a massive boost in support.

Um, so that's what kind of one of the main things we're hoping to achieve with it.

Um, and yeah, to do that, we kind of, we really have to activate lots of people that go to the mountains and love the mountains, um, to, you know, um, demonstrate, like, their love for the snow gum and why they think we, that they should be federally listed.

I've, I've brought back an unhappy memory.

It does appear.

[laughs] But it actually...

We, we think that it's gonna be really key to unlocking the funding and resources to try and tackle the problem at an ecosystem level because, you know, the scientists that we talked to that are trying to look into things like how could we slow the spread of the beetle, what are the best, you know, land management practices to stop fire getting through the Alps so frequently, they are severely underfunded, um, and barely anyone even knows, like, the crucial work that they're doing.

So, you know, in our minds they're, they're absolutely unsung national heroes.

Um, but yeah, they, they can't do the work that we desperately need them to do unless they have a massive boost in support.

Um, so that's what kind of one of the main things we're hoping to achieve with it.

Um, and yeah, to do that, we kind of, we really have to activate lots of people that go to the mountains and love the mountains, um, to, you know, um, demonstrate, like, their love for the snow gum and why they think we, that they should be federally listed.

I've, I've brought back unhappy memories.

Do you ever, well no actually, do you know any

snow gums personally? Yes, I know many snow gums personally.

Some of them up here on Mount Buffalo, including this amazing one on the walk down to the gorge that has completely hollowed itself out and is clinging to the edge of this enormous granite rock.

And I don't understand how they still stay fully alive when you can stand up inside them as though they've been caught out like an apple.

My name's Anna.

I am a campaigner at Friends of the Earth and lifelong lover of snow gums and the Australian Alps.

I don't know, how do you get to know a snowgum? How do you get to know a person? You just, you keep showing up and spending time with them in all their seasons and different moods.

You can see it recover, but you don't know whether it's fully recovered or not.