Over recent weeks, Mangroves from the Water (MFTW) has taken an important step forward, bringing the mangroves of the Barwon Estuary into conversations at both federal and state levels of government.
As an artist, my relationship with these mangroves has developed through years of being on the water: kayaking, observing, sketching and documenting this changing environment. Through MFTW, art has become a way not only to represent the mangroves, but also to draw attention to their ecological importance, the pressures they face and the need for greater recognition and protection.
On 14 August, I met with Libby Coker MP, Federal Member for Corangamite, to discuss the Barwon Estuary mangroves and share the MFTW proposal. I was joined by Margaret Griffith, a Barwon Heads local, educator and volunteer, who shares a deep concern for our local environment.
On 16 September, I met with Alison Marchant MP, State Member for Bellarine, and shared the proposal with her. We discussed the mangroves, their condition and the broader future of the Barwon Estuary and Lake Connewarre. During our conversation, Alison mentioned that I was the first person to speak with her specifically about the mangroves of the Barwon Estuary. I found this particularly significant. These mangroves are part of an important and interconnected estuarine landscape, yet they can remain remarkably absent from public conversation.
My hope is that Lake Connewarre and the connected Barwon Estuary will receive greater recognition and protection as an interconnected ecological system. The mangroves should be part of that conversation.
For MFTW, these meetings are not an endpoint. They are part of an ongoing process of bringing together art, observation, scientific knowledge and environmental advocacy. An artist can spend years looking closely, admiring nature and recording changes through lived experience—in a sketch, then a painting or a sculpture. We come to know these changes from eye to heart. That sustained attention can reveal changes that deserve to be seen, discussed and investigated.
I am sharing the MFTW proposal here publicly as an invitation to continue that conversation. I hope it can contribute to greater awareness, further scientific and community engagement, and meaningful consideration of the future protection of the Barwon Estuary mangroves.
The MFTW proposal can be read below.
Dr. Zahidah Zelda Zeytoun Millie
Mangroves from the Water Founder & Curator
All images and articles on this blog are © Zahidah Zelda Zeytoun Millie except where otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
Mangroves from the Water (MFTW) 