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Home / World

Bush to bloom again after NSW bushfires

AAP
1 Nov, 2013 06:20 AM2 mins to read

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Smoke rises from a wildfire near Lake Macquarie, New South Wales. Photo / AP

Smoke rises from a wildfire near Lake Macquarie, New South Wales. Photo / AP

After fighting for two days to save his wife's Blue Mountains cafe from a bushfire, it was the red waratah in the garden that brought Craig Jones to tears.

"The gardens are totally natural bushland," Mr Jones said as he surveyed the damage last month.

"Nothing has been planted and it's survived - like us."

The lone flower represents not only a symbol of hope for Mr Jones and his wife but also the miraculous ability of Australian native fauna to regenerate after catastrophic fire events.

Bushfires are part of life in national parks, with many native plants dependent on flames and smoke to reproduce.

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National Parks and Wildlife Service Blue Mountains regional manager Geoff Luscombe told AAP the bush would start to bounce back soon.

"The bush pretty much knows how to look after itself; it has been doing this for thousands, millions of years," he said.

With a little bit of rain, a "green carpet" would emerge in burnt areas, providing food for animals that had been hiding.

Grass trees known as black boys would sprout new "heads of green hair" and metre-long spear-shaped flowers and wild flowers like the delicate white flannel flower would eventually follow.

The popular blue gum forest had escaped fire, while visitors curious to see the bush regenerate from fire could visit spots on the Bells Line of Road, Mr Luscombe said.

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Also keen to get into the parks are volunteers with the wildlife rescue service WIRES.

Spokeswoman Carla Toyne says vets and members of the public have handed over a large number of flying foxes, birds and possums for care. But many are too badly burnt and must be euthanased.

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She hopes the parks will soon be safe enough for volunteers to enter and find injured animals which found shelter or burrowed away from the flames.

A few Blue Mountains WIRES volunteers faced the double heartbreak of losing their homes and seeing the animals they love lose theirs, Ms Toyne said.

Yet some were already inquiring about wildlife caring again.

"They are amazing people ... they are going through something this severe and you just see their integrity," Ms Toyne said.

"They genuinely want to preserve the Australian species."

* National Parks visitors should check the website for information on possible fires and closures before leaving home this summer

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* Donations to the WIRES bushfire appeal can be made online

- AAP

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