 | Ravenshoe, Queensland, "Centre of the Universe" is the friendly town located at the top of the Atherton Tableland. Located 920 metres above sea level the township is surrounded by World Heritage listed rainforest and is the highest point of the Misty Mountains Trails. Also known as the Cairns Highlands this area boasts wildlife, birds and attractions found no where else in Tropical North Queensland. "Capella" our steam train is undergoing maintenance and will be back on the rails on Sunday 4th April (Easter Sunday) 2010 THE SIR RUFOUS BETTONG AWARD 2009 winner is Saeed de Ridder Saeed has had a colourful life. He was born in the then Dutch New Guinea to which his family fled from the troubled situation in Indonesia. When he was three they moved to Holland and then two years later came to Sydney. Saeed’s schooling was done in Sydney and then in 1966 the family came to Cairns. He worked as a forest trainee and was almost immediately disillusioned with the forestry practices at that time. He did various jobs in N S W including lab technician at Armidale University but later returned to Cairns. He was employed, for a year, at the Cairns Botanic Gardens, starting his Horticultural training and practical experience with them. Saeed then went to Mount Isa doing landscaping with Mt Isa Parks and Gardens for two and a half years, then working in the mines for another two and a half years.In 1976 Saeed moved to Ravenshoe to live on his land. He did an adult traineeship with Forestry, worked at Kareeya and Koombooloomba thirteen years before branching out on his own to do various landscaping jobs on the Tableland.In the late 90’s he joined Herbertonshire Council as part of The Wet Tropics Tree Planting Scheme. This work with H.S.C. included to talks to schools and universities, Land for Wildlife Liaison, Road reserves, etc. Herbertonshire led the way in best practices. Saeed is still greening the Tablelands doing extra treeplanting and keeping fauna records, doing over and above and beyond the work in hand. That is why we have given him this award.Saeed is a man of passion and knows that the natural world needs looking after or else it falls apart. He knows that nature is restorative and sacred. Nature is a holy thing to Saeed. “It provides for our need but not for our greed” he quotes from Gandhi.Saeed’s passion led him to be on the very first blockade against Bjelke-Peterson’s plans by joining with friends Mike Berwick (later Mayor of Port Douglas) and Naturalist Rupert Russell to try to stop the logging of the Windsor Tableland in 1980.His heroes are Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Susan George, author of “Fate worse than debt” and “How the other half dies” and Vandana Shiva, author of “Soil not Oil” .Saeed is very proud to accept this Ravenshoe Visitor Centre Award. He says it highlights that we can get so much out of life by caring for what is right in front of us. It’s a revealing truth “ he says “a butterfly, a tree, a stony river bed enables us to reconnect with our true selves, its so deep-rooted, a symbol of our origins.”  
As a result of our initiative in creating the Sir Rufous Bettong award Ravenshoe Visitor Centre was recognised for our work to promote environmental awareness with the Australia Day 2009 "Environmental Excellence Award" by Tablelands Regional Council. FACILITIES Ravenshoe facilities include two pubs, two motels, two supermarkets, a butcher, a baker, a fishmonger, a draper, a pharmacy (last one until Cloncurry to our west), a tyre service, two petrol stations, a bank, a music store, three motor mechanics, a hair and beauty salon, library service, two cafes and a roadhouse, four internet access points - see the Business Listing. The Ravenshoe black water dump is easy to find - follow the signs on Ascham Street. To use the Local Business, Community or Services Guide, look for the type of business, service or trade. |
