People with Purpose: Adam Shipp

Have you ever stopped to wonder what stories the land surrounding you is telling?

There’s a quiet wisdom that lingers among the native trees and winding paths of the Australian National Botanic Gardens. The crisp scent of eucalyptus fills the air, while the rustle of grasses underfoot tells stories most of us were never taught to hear. But for those willing to listen, places like this offer more than just a peaceful stroll, they offer a reconnection to Country.

In Canberra, one man has dedicated his life to helping people rediscover that connection. Adam Shipp, a proud Wiradjuri man and Indigenous ecologist, has become a guiding figure in sharing traditional plant knowledge. His work bridges ancient wisdom with modern curiosity, inviting Canberrans to see the land not just as a backdrop to daily life, but as a living, breathing resource of culture, nourishment, and healing.

Reviving Knowledge That Was Always Here

For over 60,000 years, Indigenous Australians have lived in deep relationship with the land. Knowing which plants could heal, which could feed a community, and how to care for Country so it would care for them in return. Today, Adam is part of a growing movement ensuring that this knowledge isn’t lost, but shared.

Adam delivers workshops on bush tucker, medicinal plants, and cultural practices. His approach is simple but powerful: education through experience. By walking through local landscapes, participants learn to identify native species like wattleseed, saltbush, and lomandra, not as ornamental plants, but as vital parts of a sustainable lifestyle embedded in culture.

His work isn’t just about plants. It’s about reconnection, to nature, to history, and to each other.

Canberra’s Living Classroom

For those looking to start their own journey of understanding, the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) offers an accessible gateway. Nestled at the base of Black Mountain, the Gardens are home to the world’s most comprehensive display of Australian native plants. But among its many paths, the Bush Tucker Garden and Indigenous Plant Trail stand out as more than just a collection of flora, they represent a cultural map.

Here, visitors can observe plants like the peppery-tasting mountain pepper, the citrus-scented lemon myrtle, or kangaroo grass, once a staple grain harvested by Indigenous communities. Each plant holds a purpose, a story, and a role in sustainable living long before modern agriculture arrived.

Walking these trails isn’t just a lesson in botany, it’s a quiet act of respect. A reminder that every leaf and branch has meaning when viewed through the lens of traditional knowledge.

As National Reconciliation Week approaches, stories like Adam’s and places like the ANBG remind us that reconciliation isn’t confined to policies or events, it grows in everyday understanding. Learning about the land we live on, acknowledging its first caretakers, and embracing Indigenous knowledge as part of Australia’s future, not just its past, are steps anyone can take.

Understanding bush tucker and native plants is more than an educational exercise, it’s a way to foster environmental care, promote wellbeing, and deepen cultural awareness. In a time where sustainability and connection are more important than ever, looking to the world’s oldest living culture offers guidance that modern society is only beginning to value again.

People like Adam are cultivating more than plants, they’re growing understanding, respect, and resilience within communities. By reviving traditional knowledge and sharing it with all Australians, they’re ensuring that the stories written into the landscape are not forgotten but embraced.

At Purpose Media CBR, we believe in celebrating these quiet leaders and the places that inspire learning and connection. Because sometimes, the most powerful stories aren’t breaking news, they’re the ones that have been here all along, waiting for us to notice.

Next time you wander through a park or nature reserve, pause and ask yourself, not just what is growing here, but why it matters.