'Living Fossil' Ginkgo’s Survival Exposes Urban Green Space Erasure in Australia’s Colonial Cities
Original framing: “‘Backdrop for countless local love stories’: Geelong gingko named Victorian tree of the year” — The Guardian - World
The Wadawurrung People’s relationship with Country includes a deep ecological understanding of the land’s flora, which was systematically erased with colonization. The ginkgo’s presence in Geelong’s botanic gardens—established on Wadawurrung land—represents a colonial imposition of non-native species, displacing Indigenous botanical knowledge. Today, Wadawurrung rangers and cultural burning practices offer alternative models for land stewardship, but these are rarely integrated into urban conservation narratives. The tree’s celebration without acknowledgment of this history perpetuates the myth of ‘empty land’ that justified its displacement.
The Geelong ginkgo’s celebration as ‘Victorian Tree of the Year’ is not just a story about a beloved landmark but a microcosm of Australia’s unresolved colonial and ecological legacies.
Its survival as a non-native species reflects both the resilience of nature and the violence of its displacement, a paradox that mainstream narratives ignore by framing it as a mere ‘backdrop.’ The tree’s romanticization obscures systemic erasures: the loss of Indigenous custodianship, the privatization of urban green spaces, and the marginalization of communities that lack access to such amenities. Solutions must center Indigenous leadership, equitable urban planning, and scientific collaboration to transform the ginkgo from a symbol of colonial nostalgia into a catalyst for decolonial ecology. The trickster’s role here is to expose how sentimental stories about trees can mask deeper injustices—until we demand a different kind of narrative, one that restores what was stolen and reimagines nature as a commons, not a commodity.