Author Archives: SAVE Mt Canobolas SCA

Orange City Council’s bike plan for Mt Canobolas is much worse than we thought it would be according to Canobolas Conservation Alliance President, Dr Colin Bower. The plan, revealed in The Central Western Daily (27/07/21), shows Council’s intention is to take over Mt Canobolas and turn it into an exclusive, intensive mountain biking venue, DrContinueContinue reading “PRESS RELEASE | Conservationists reject bike plan”

Originally published in the Central Western Daily on 27 July, 2021

The local Orange Aboriginal community say they haven’t been consulted about the proposed bike trails on Mt Canobolas, which is a sacred site, housing many Indigenous cultural artefacts. Neil and Gregory Ingram from the Orange Aboriginal community said the Orange City Council hasn’t asked them about their concerns for the project. The Ingrams said theyContinueContinue reading “MEDIA REPORT | Local Aboriginal community not consulted on bike trails”

Mount Canobolas is giving up its secrets. Who knew it had so many? I’ve been exploring parts of ‘The Mountain’ for over forty years and it’s only recently I came to understand how little we really know about it, and what a fascinating story it has to tell. Mount Canobolas is the iconic backdrop toContinueContinue reading “Feature Article | Secret Treasures of Mt Canobolas”

As a major Wiradjuri place, Mt Canobolas was an important occupation site used for the sourcing and sharing of food, medicines and tools, and for corroborees and ceremonies particularly relating to men’s business. To the Wiradjuri people Gaanha-bula is a place of spiritual connection through worship of Baiame (the Creator God and Sky Father) andContinueContinue reading “Facebook Video | The Significance of Gaanha-bula (Mt Canobolas) to the Wiradjuri People”

Orange City Council’s (OCC) plan for a mountain biking centre in the Mt Canobolas State Conservation Area (SCA) is a brazen assault on nature conservation. In the midst of the Sixth Great Extinction of life on Earth, OCC sees no issue with taking over an area legally dedicated to nature conservation for mountain biking. ItContinueContinue reading “Letter to the Editor | Mountain Biking a Brazen Assault on Nature Conservation”

Gaanha-bula (Mt Canobolas) is a significant cultural and spiritual place for the Wiradjuri people as a men’s initiation site and site for corroboree and ceremonies (burbung). Signs of aboriginal occupation are abundant, including stone tools and flakes from tool-making. Wiradjuri elder, Uncle Neil Ingram, relates the dreaming story of Gaanha-bula here.

The wet and misty peaks of Mount Canobolas are home to ninety species of lichens, encrusting rocks, soil and trees, including four species that occur nowhere else on earth. A rare endemic community dominated by foliose Xanthoparmelia species is listed as Endangered and also occurs only on the higher parts of the Volcanic Complex. LichensContinueContinue reading “Lichen wonderland – Mt Canobolas SCA”

The Canobolas Conservation Alliance has released a new report by environmental consultant, Dr Colin Bower, on the outstanding biodiversity values of the Mt Canobolas State Conservation Area (SCA). The report has been released to Orange City Council and its consultants following Council’s mountain biking forum last Thursday at which Council concluded there was plenty ofContinueContinue reading “PRESS RELEASE | Conservation Alliance Releases New Report on Mt Canobolas”