Amy Sledziona, founder of Friends of Malcom Creek. Amy Sledziona is a veterinarian and the founder of the reinvigorated volunteer group Friends of Malcom Creek, a tributary of the Merri Creek. Amy lives on the rapidly expanding northern edge of Melbourne where she identified a need for new locals to connect with and protect nature and waterways. 

What’s your favourite spot on the Merri Creek (or tributaries)?
My favourite spot is a section of Malcolm Creek in Craigieburn as the creek feeds into the lake at Centennial Park Drive. The creek has beautiful healthy aquatic grasses and a community of frogs. There are the most stunning mature river red gums on the banks of the creek and galahs, cockies and magpies calling nearby.

Can you share a special memory of seeing a native animal or plant on the creek?
There is a community of kangaroos that frequent the section of Malcolm Creek in the Golden Sun Moth Conservation Reserve. This reserve is bordered by a footpath and then residential houses. I love that these beautiful creatures are so calm and content and we are able to peacefully share this beautiful space with them.

What strikes you about our native animals that makes them so different from the animals you’ve worked with overseas?
I have worked and volunteered as a veterinarian in Central America, Africa and Europe and had the absolute pleasure of working with some incredibly special creatures. However, Australian flora and fauna are like nothing else. I was living in the UK during Covid and watching the Australian episode of the David Attenborough Seven Worlds, One Planet series. It made me miss Australia so incredibly much. It is the very reason I had to come home.

What have you learnt volunteering overseas that you can apply in your work on Malcolm Creek?

It has taught me to be grateful for the support I have. In Madagascar, you face such significant challenges from the government who own a significant share in the mining companies. There are critically endangered species that exist only in the last remaining forest fragments of south-east Madagascar, and the government has given approval for these forests to be taken for mining. As much as my local council may be reactive rather than proactive, they still care about the environment and are working with me, not against me.

How important is it that groups run by volunteers are supported by MCMC?
I reached out to Julia Cirillo from MCMC at a time when I had reached dead ends trying to get help for my local environment. Julia validated my concerns and helped me with our first litter clean ups on Malcolm Creek. With Julia’s support and encouragement, I was able to re-establish Friends of Malcolm Creek and now we hold our own litter clean ups on Malcolm Creek every month. It is so important to feel that you are not alone and that others are also with you, championing this cause of caring for our environment.

What’s your vision for Malcolm Creek in 50 years’ time?
I would love for Malcolm Creek to be a leading example of a healthy creek and ecosystem thriving with flora and fauna right in the heart of suburban Melbourne.