Eloise Brown - Let's Keep Colours in Nature

It is not only international visitors who love the colour and vibrancy of Australia’s birdlife. Young
artist and environmentalist, Eloise Brown, loves to capture the kaleidoscopic hues of the Rainbow
Lorikeet. When she sees them flashing past like flying jewels and hears the excited cries, she
identifies with their wild pleasure. She, too, knows what it means to move swiftly and surely – she
loves to follow the river’s journey through rugged terrain on a home-made raft, Huckleberry Finn
style. There are no worries here about young people having too much screen time. In fact, the
whole family, which includes her parents and her younger brother, are heavily involved in nature.
They actively get into the bush, supporting several local conservation projects.

This family is a family that thrives as fully as the weeds they pull up as part of their bush care group;
this is a family that seeks to protect and preserve local waterways ridding them of plastics even
when it is not an activity organized by Ocean Crusaders. After all, it’s not much fun having plastic
debris wash up against the raft. When they’re not at work or at leisure on the rivers, the family
enjoys camping and roughing it in Australia’s National Parks. Whilst Queensland’s Lamington
National Park is a local favourite, they’ve also braved the trek on Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain, not a
trip for the faint of heart. They have also seen the now rare orange bellied parrot which breeds in
south west Tassie, then flies to the south-eastern mainland when winter appears. Not content
with Australian National Parks, they also have fond memories of Finland’s protected areas. Closer to
home, across the ditch, they’ve enjoyed the crazy antics of New Zealand’s Kea birds who work
together as a group to thieve items from unwary travellers.

Given all this, it is not surprising that Eloise resorts to art to deliver her message: if we don’t
preserve habitat then all this colour and diversity will be lost. As a dedicated ambassador for wildlife
and conservation she’d like to see not just more National Parks with better funding, but more young
people speaking up for healthy habitats. If she were Environment Minister, she’d support Ocean
Crusaders with enough money to purchase more boats and reach places that still need cleaning up.
There would also be more opportunities for young artists to make posters and advocate to people
their own age about the beauty of nature.