ACF Community Brisbane West

28/08/2026

We had a wonderful day at the Brisbane West Eco Fest held at The Gap State High School on 16 August 2026. Our stall, which we shared with ACF Community Brisbane North, attracted a wide range of visitors, not all of which were two-legged!

People were keen to engage and ask questions.

Robyn’s transpiration display showed the important role of trees in the water cycle, 121 people ‘voted’ for their top ACF issue (more on this below) and learned about ACF’s 60+ year history through the colourful infographic. It was heartening that young people in particular enquired about volunteering opportunities.

As always, wildlife stickers were popular. Several adventurous individuals took the opportunity to be instructed in the art of making an origami butterfly. Thank you to the visitor who folded a beautiful flying crane for us. Thank you also to local MPs, Jonty Bush, Member for Cooper and Elizabeth Watson-Brown, Member for Ryan for taking the time to stop by and have a chat.

At the end of the day, votes were counted with the results as follows: Yes to Protecting Nature (76), Yes to Renewables (19), No new Coal or Gas (15) and No to Nuclear (11). Interestingly, two school children independently said they would have liked to have voted for Nature but chose Renewables instead because if climate change from the use of fossil fuels was reduced, then nature would be in a better place.

If you’d like to say g’day to us at our next stall, we will be at the Alive in the Sunshine festival at Mt. Coot-tha Botanic Gardens from 12pm-5pm on Saturday 5 September 2026. We hope to see you there.

16/07/2026

Woodlands in Winter - Wild at Art event

On 30 June 2026 ACF Community Brisbane West collaborated with THECA (The Hut Environmental and Community Association) at The Hut, Fleming Road, Chapel Hill for Woodlands in Winter – Wild at Art, an event designed to raise awareness of Australia’s endangered species. Eleven primary school-aged children, a high school helper and some adult family members attended.

The morning began with a walk along the Butterfly Track, observing many small fungi, a few butterflies, the beautiful patterns on tree trunks, red-ash sawfly larvae, small flowers, mosses, lichens, fallen leaves, tiny ants and any number of other fascinating finds. Where appropriate, these were picked up with tweezers and brought back to The Hut for later viewing.

The bush was alive with the sound of birds including kookaburras, rainbow lorikeets and butcherbirds. Maria captured the children’s attention by reading from a wildlife book and asking them to fill in the gaps – or deliberate errors – in her reading.

On return to The Hut, the children set about drawing or painting an endangered species of their choosing or producing an artwork related to something they had found interesting on the walk.
Following completion of the art, the children were guided in the use of a microscope and projected their images onto a large screen for all to see. Who knew so many minute creatures could be found lurking in moss or lichen, or how beautiful the structure of a leaf is when magnified?

As with last year, it is not likely that many artworks from the morning will find their way into ACF’s Wild at Art competition. However, it’s not too late to enter.

Submissions from children aged 5-12 years old can be made up until 10 August. See the details on the ACF website: https://www.acf.org.au/wild-at-art

15/07/2026

Speak up to Save our Reefs

Have you heard about Woodside’s Browse Gas Project?

It may be a long way from Brisbane West but its impacts would be felt far and wide.

Substantial new scientific information prepared by ACF shows that the 1.6 billion tonnes of climate pollution from the Browse Gas Project is likely to be a disaster for the Great Barrier Reef - killing nearly 30 million more corals in the Reef in each future mass bleaching event.

The Browse Gas Project will also harm threatened species and the iconic Scott Reef in Western Australia.

The Great Barrier Reef is a matter protected under Australia’s nature laws.

ACF is requesting that the Environment Minister reconsiders how the Browse Gas Project is assessed under our federal nature laws and includes the climate consequences for the Great Barrier Reef in that assessment.

For more information and to add your name to ACF’s submission:
https://www.acf.org.au/our-work/climate/speak-up-to-save-our-reefs?utm_source=acf&utm_content=homepage-banner-button

Submissions close on Tuesday 21 July 2026.

Public consultation is open on Woodside's Browse Gas Project. Add your name and tell the government its climate and environmental impacts are unacceptable.

23/06/2026

ACF Brisbane West members joined the Save Woogaroo Forest - Ipswich QLD community action group who handed an Expert Open Letter and Petition to Minister Murray Watt’s office today. This 420 hectares of forest is critical bushland located 25km from Brisbane and home to more than 1000 species including endangered koalas, platypus, powerful owls, gliders and rare plants - a refuge for wildlife fighting for survival. Let’s hope the Federal Government listens and saves the forest for us all to enjoy.