T P Bellchambers Reserve, Apamurra SA

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Images © Kirsty MacGregor

Thomas Paine Bellchambers
1858 1929
“There is the evil that comes from the destruction of valuable links in nature’s chain, on which man’s very existence largely hangs.” T. P. Bellchambers
Born in England in 1858, Tom arrived in Australia in 1874 in search of work. He spent the years between 1881 and 1905 in and around Mannum and ran the first local apiary. Tom was intensely interested in the environment which was greatly influenced by his mother. Tom was a well known naturalist and conservationist.
Tom wrote many articles for the local papers on the topic of conservation and the native flora and fauna which he saw slowly degrading due to the destructivism of man.
“Nature always provides a surplus for legitimate use, far in excess of needs, to ensure continuance of species…unrestrained, man uses up the capital instead of the surplus and this must, by natural law, end in disaster.” T.P. Bellchambers
Tom wrote two books, “Nature: Our Mother” and “A Nature-Lovers Notebook”. In 1914, he became the first person in the world to breed Malleefowl in captivity.
In his ideas and beliefs Tom Bellchambers was truly ahead of his time. Thomas Paine Bellchambers was a remarkable man with a remarkable vision. He died in 1929 at his beloved Humbug Scrub Sanctuary where he now rests.
Silver Daisy-bush
This area contains Silver Daisy-bush Olearia pannosa var pannosa that is listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act as Vulnerable. There are only around 1000 of these plants left in the South Australian Murray Darling Basin. This is the most northerly known collection of these plants in the SAMDB. The species is threatened by fragmentation, weed competition, small population size and lack of recruitment of new plants.
Revegetation
Copy supplied by Eastern Hills & Murray Plains Catchment Group
Murray Bridge Natural Resources Centre, Mannum Road,
PO Box 2056 MURRAY BRIDGE SA 5253
Ph: (08) 8531 2077 Fax: (08) 8532 5300
e-mail: admin@ehmpcg.org.au
web: www.ehmpcg.org.au

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