... because we humans can only work for a future we can imagine.

One of the virtual 'skins' from Imagine The Future Inc's re-interpretation of a traditional Kulin possum skin cloak created by Csaba Szamosy from images contributed by project partners, Painting the future real, 1996.

[The 2002 version and accompanying story Native grassland communities.]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

One of the possums that inhabit the Footscray campus of Victoria University of Technology, photographed by Mike Martin for the University and contributed to the project by him. The skins of the ancestors of this possum would have been used by Kulin people to make their cloaks.


Eastern Barred Bandicoot (Parameles gunnii) photographed by Ian McCann for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Contributed by James Ross, grasslands officer with the Victorian National Parks Association, with permission from the Department. This bandicoot is now endangered but is being bred in sanctuaries and zoos, including Werribee Zoo, for re-introduction into the 'wild' in carefully prepared areas.


Five emus (Dromaius novaehollandia) contributed by Victorian National Parks Associatioin.


Australian bustard (Ardeotis australis) photographed by Ian McCann for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Contributed by James Ross, grasslands officer with the Victorian National Parks Association, with permission from the Department. This Bustard is endangered nationally and is extinct within the project area.


Bush Thicknee (Burhilius magnirostris) photographed by Ian McCann for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Contributed by James Ross, grasslands officer with the Victorian National Parks Association, with permission from the Department. This Thicknee is considered a vulnerable species in Victoria and is now extinct within the project area.


The Plains Wanderer (Pedionomus borquatus) photographed by Tom Wheller for the Victorian National Parks Association, and contributed by James Ross, VNPA's grasslands officer. The Plains Wanderer is listed on Schedule 2 of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 as a protected species.


Stipa grass photographed by Vanessa Craigee for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and contributed to the project by her.


A remnant herbfield photographed by J. Seebeck for the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment. This image was contributed to the project by DNRE's grasslands officer, Vanessa Craigee.


Chrysocephalum apiculatum or Common Everlastings photographed by James Ross for the Victorian National Parks Association and contributed to the project by him.


Blue Devils or Eryngium ovinim photographed by James Ross for the National Parks Association of Victoria and contributed to the project by him.


Conservation burning of remnant grassland photographed by James Ross for the Victorian National Parks Association, and contributed to the project by him. The Kulin people used 'firestick farming' to manage the grasslands for perhaps thousands of years. Contemporary botanists now recognise the wisdom of this practice and recommend regular controlled burning to maintain the health of the few remaining grassland ecosystems.


Redgums in grassy woodlands near Bannockburn, photographed by James Ross for the Victorian National Parks Association, and contributed to the project by him.


Redgums and Yellowgums in grassy woodlands near Bannockburn, photographed by James Ross for the Victorian National Parks Association, and contributed to the project by him.

[Page history: created and first published on www.ecoversity.org.au as part o f Painting the future real (1995-97), the prototype for Redreaming the plain (1998-2002); taken off-line in 1998 and re-posted in slightly modified form in July 2004 as a web archive. For more information contact redreaming@rmit.edu.au.]