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Eurobodalla Landcare Network Newsletter

Spring 2017

Spring has sprung! Thanks to all our volunteers - you have certainly been very busy working hard and having fun with Landcare :-) Please feel free to submit photos, articles or links if you have something of interest to share with the wider Landcare community.

ELN AGM & Presidents Report

Eurobodalla Landcare Network Inc. President’s Report 2016 – 2017

The past couple of years has seen the formation of the Eurobodalla Landcare Network as a formal body coordinating a previously loose collective of individual Landcare groups in the Eurobodalla Shire, which had existed since the demise of the Eurobodalla Shire Council Landcare Management Committee.
Meetings of a volunteer committee in May and October 2016 decided to go ahead with the incorporation of the Network and this was achieved in February 2017.
A large part of this process was undertaken by Emma Patyus who, in March 2016 was appointed as ESC Landcare Officer in the newly implemented NSW Local Landcare Coordinator Program.
Emma’s work in support of groups, providing training and education opportunities, ongoing organization and co-ordination and the promotion of our work in the wider community is greatly appreciated. We are all benefitting from the enthusiasm and dedication she brings to her role.
ELN has been very active during the past twelve months with the members of our twenty seven groups contributing more than 10,000 hours of voluntary work on environmental projects throughout the Shire.
One only has to read the quarterly ELN Newsletter to get a feel for the volume and diversity of the work performed by members on a regular basis.
It was with regret that we farewelled stalwarts of Eurobodalla Landcare Maureen and Jim Baker as they moved north to Wollongong in June; exacerbated by the sad news of Jim’s death in more recent months. Theirs was a mighty contribution to our cause.
I would also like to acknowledge the work of Peter Gow our long term Landcare Coordinator whose role changed to a support officer when the NSW Government abolished the Catchment Management Authorities and created Local Land Services. Peter was with us in the early days of Landcare in the Shire and helped many local groups become established and undertake their first projects. Unfortunately with rationalization and restructure Peter’s LLS position was discontinued. We wish him well in the future.
ELN would like to thank Eurobodalla Shire Council and particularly the Environment Team for their continued support for Landcare activities in the Shire. The increased help for many groups from the Invasive Species officers has seen major gains in combatting long term problems in many areas.
I would like to thank the inaugural committee members Lynn Bain, Anne Rault, Graeme Henwood, Leon Wallace, Barry Hart and Will Douglas. Lynn deserves special mention for her secretarial and treasurer duties.
Finally, thanks to all you Landcarers for your continuing effort; you are definitely part of the solution!
Paul W May
President
October 9 2017

Make sure you leave room for dessert!

Lilli Pilli/Malua Bay Landcare have been in operation since the 80s under the fine leadership of Judy Thomson. The group meet monthly on the 3rd Saturday from 8.30am and work on weed control, rabbit monitoring, litter collection and environmental education. Here they are pictured at one of their beautiful and well tended work areas, Lilli Pilli Beach, enjoying a well earned piece of Chocolate Beetroot cake - Marissa manages to keep them in cake each month and she has been with the group making delicious morning teas for the past few decades. Yum!

Tuross community groups band together to replace Mirror Bush

Volunteers from both Tuross Coastal Landcare and Tuross Head Progress Association assisted with the first of several planting days planned for this area to replace large infestations of Mirror Bush recently treated along the foreshore. The treatment occurred across a 1.5km stretch of the foreshore and in some areas we were required to remove the bulk of the debris from site. This meant partial road closures so that we could get the chipper and truck nearby to dispose of piled frames that had taken contractors and the Green Army 2 solid weeks to treat. A huge job and we appreciate the communities support and willingness to get involved, with many private property owners removing this plant from their home gardens.

Above you can see something of the scale of the works (in just one small location of the huge project area) where the contractors cut and treated the Mirror Bush, Green Army dragged and piled ready for removal and then community volunteers assisted with revegetation.

http://www.esc.nsw.gov.au/home/news-and-events/media-releases/media-releases/mirror-bush-in-our-sights

McKenzies Beach Landcare looking sharp

Not only do they look the part, they act the part too! McKenzies Beach Landcare group formed in March of this year under the guidance and enthusiasm of Cheryl Wallace (2nd from Right). Since then the group have met almost weekly to conduct weed control and revegetaion along the popular coastal walking trail (informal) between Pretty Point and McKenzies Beach. The group always manage to enjoy themselves and usually host a morning tea, lunch or dinner after the activities to keep the good times rolling! With thanks to Cheryl for her infectious positive attitude and her coordination of the group, assisted by Sheila Box.

Volunteers worth their weight in gold

Wahoo ~ you guys are awesome! Its amazing the collective contribution that Landcare has made to the Eurobodalla in just the past year alone. For those of you that missed this article (where Lynn allowed me to sling her over my shoulder - thanks to Lynn for being such a good sport and trusting me not to drop her!) follow the link below.
http://www.esc.nsw.gov.au/home/news-and-events/media-releases/media-releases/landcare-volunteers-worth-their-weight-in-gold

Councils Facebook Page - like it!

If you want to keep up to date on Council happenings please like Eurobodalla Shire Councils Facebook page. This is also where we advertise many of our environmental programs and events, including photos from Landcare working bees - a bit of a one stop shop!
For some photos from landcare week check out the post below
https://www.facebook.com/EurobodallaCouncil/posts/1416683751780613
We also use Councils Facebook page to advertise upcoming events - would you believe it, over 60% of our attendees at events find out about it from Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/EurobodallaCouncil/posts/1417397125042609

The pearls in the oyster

Rare gems, pearls in the oyster – either way you look at it, you guys are precious! National Landcare Week ran from the 5-11^th of this month and our dedicated local volunteers didn’t miss out on the celebrations with a range of activities over the week.

The big event for us through Landcare week was a bus tour of Clyde River restoration sites which also included a boat trip out to Budd Island – one of the oyster growing hubs on the Clyde. Volunteers heard about several NRM initiatives on the island including invasive species control, container deposit scheme monitoring and Tangaroa Blue marine debris programme. “It’s a relatively small island but there is a lot going on out on Budd” says Local Landcare Coordinator, Emma Patyus “We are very grateful to have had the assistance of local Oyster farmers not just with the logistics of ferrying us to and from the island but for sharing their time, enthusiasm and knowledge with the volunteers – many of whom seemed like they were ready to give up volunteering to take up oyster growing!”

Some of the best oysters in the world are grown here on the South Coast – which our volunteers can attest to after sampling some harvested fresh from the Clyde the morning we ventured out. Particular thanks go to Ewan McAsh and Jase Finlay of McAsh Oysters for giving their time to explain the intricacies of Oyster farming, enlightening us on harvesting techniques and answering our many questions on oysters and estuaries.

After Budd, volunteers were bussed out to Casey’s Beach to learn about some other exciting projects they may like to get involved in such as Councils Estuary Program, Indian Myna control, Cat Bib pilot program, building nest boxes and working with local school groups. “There’s a lot going on in the community to protect and enhance our environment” Emma says “It’s terrific that we are able to call on the support of many individuals and groups to help us in keep areas like the Clyde River in such great shape”.

Volunteers also celebrated with another event held during Landcare week at an informative workshop on Endangered Ecological Communities. The workshop focused on the importance of Coastal Saltmarsh and Bangalay Sand Forest, led by Botanist Jackie Miles, and was followed by a delicious lunch on the banks of the Tomaga River. “It sounds like a lot of lunching but, as we know, there is no such thing as a free lunch! A few pictures above from Budd Island and some below from the EEC workshop ~ plenty of smiling faces!

Boomerang Bags - Sew sustainable

Many Landcare volunteers have recently added sewing to their repertoire by helping to make Boomerang Bags.The bags are all made from recycled materials as a means to provide a sustainable alternative to plastic bags. Much of the fabric used locally has been donated from sewers, ex-sewers and from charity stores (eg. old doona covers, table cloths etc). To find out more about Bommerang Bags follow this link
http://boomerangbags.org/

There will be more upcoming community sewing days, and you don't even have to be able to sew in order to help out as there are plenty of other jobs such as cutting and ironing. Please contact Emma for more details. If you would like to try your hand at making a Boomerang Bag check out the template here;
http://cdn.boomerangbags.org/wp-content/uploads/BB_BagInstructions_WebsiteVersion.pdf

Thanks to Lynn Bain for the display above that my girls were busy admiring - they look terrific!

Damon on deck

Damon Lane is now working one-two days a week to assist with Landcare and weed control projects. He is available to assist groups with working bees, treating weeds etc. and is known to many groups through his management of past Green Army teams. If your group would like assistance with an activity, have problematic weed control issues that may require specialist attention (eg. High Volume spraying, chain sawing and so on) or would just like someone to pop out and offer some advice please do not hesitate to get in touch. You can do this by email Damon directly on damon.lane@esc.nsw.gov.au or by phoning Emma on 4474 7300.

Education trailer does the rounds

Councils environmental education trailer has proven to be a very popular drawcard at local events over the past few months. The Trailer, pictured above, contains all that we need to run education events such as plant swaps, field days and working with community and school groups. It includes a solar powered smart TV, magnetic white boards, brochure stands and materials, an awning and plenty of space in the rear for tools and/or debris. The trailer can be booked for community events by Landcare groups - contact Emma if you are interested.

Sucked in - its science!

Our environment team have been busy working with school groups across the Shire running education activities, excursions and working bees. We work with students from preschool age right up to adults, both in term time and during school holidays, often partnering with Universities for work placements and TAFE for practical activities. The team also work with students from outside the Shire with several secondary schools from Canberra who wish to give their students a 'sea-change', hosting excursions that give students practical experience in science, geography and HSIE modules. We often call on the assistance of nearby Landcare, or other community group, volunteers (eg. Friends of the Botanic Gardens, Mens Shed, Boomerang Bags and so on) to help out on our excursions and are very grateful for the experience and knowledge of these volunteers - as are the students! Keep this in mind if your group has an upcoming activity where you could do with a lot of hands. To find out more contact Emma.

Pictured above are students form St Peters College in Canberra (who had over 100 students visit Bengello reserve last month for Geography lessons) and Narooma High School Aboriginal Education Officers with Damon & Emma after a recent planting day with students in their new outdoor learning space.

Update from Guerilla Bay

Guerilla Bay “village” has only 103 houses and the majority of these are second houses. Quite a few have always been in the same family so although the owners don’t live there permanently they are very committed to Guerilla Bay and it’s “special” environment. This means that although it’s impossible at this time to have regular working bees there is a lot of support for land care. In the past this has been in the form of financial donations with which we have been able to employ contractors. We have also appreciated contractor help through the Council’s “Protecting EECs” Environment Trust grant.
Our major working bee is held at Easter. This year we had 28 participants in glorious weather. We offered two activities an educational weed and native plant identification with lots of weeding and track clipping. The educational activity was led by Michelle Tribolet, bush regenerator extraordinaire. Participants found her inspiring and did not want the session to end in spite of our delicious morning tea of cold cross buns and Easter eggs. The other activity was clipping the walking track that runs around Burrewarra Point. This track is very popular with both locals and increasing numbers of “tourists” but it becomes overgrown by the verging Lomandra and Bracken. The more energetic among us worked hard with hedge clippers and loppers and the result was a great testament to “many hands make light work”.
For our October long weekend working bee a smaller group (13) decided to tackle an infestation of Burr Medic on our beach and hind dunes. This weed was first noticed in 2014 when the burrs were mature and falling off. At that time as well as removing the plants the sand needed to be seived.

The green bags of burrs in the photo above were sent to landfill. People and dogs walking on the beach should be very grateful!

Thanks to Lyndall Hatch Coordinator of Guerilla Bay Landcare for this update and great photos

Update on marine debris in our land of many waters

2017 has again seen fantastic involvement in the marine debris program. We have had schools, clubs, groups and individuals out on our beaches and waterways collecting marine debris and including the data from the clean ups onto the AMDI database. http://www.tangaroablue.org/database.html
With more than 40 clean ups since January our participants have removed 485 supermarket bags, over 600 plastic food packaging items and around 900 plastic film remnants (from plastic bags and packaging) from our beaches and estuaries.
If you would like to see some of the volunteers in action, click here https://youtu.be/wORID3anwEU
Or go to our webpage if you would like to get involved http://www.esc.nsw.gov.au/living-in/living-sustainably/get-involved/marine-debris-working-group

Photos – Narooma high clean up Handkerchief Beach
Landcarers on Budd Island see the Marine Debris clean up in action

Deua Rivercare erosion control

Some pictures above showing recent Landcare works done on private property to help remediate a growing area of erosion adjoining the Deua River. This area had previously been revegetated as a means to slow erosion and reduce sediment transfer however it became apparent that some reshaping was necessary as the nick continued to grow. The reshaping was complemented by laying geotech fabric and placement of rock and fill with further revegetation to follow. All we need now are some decent rains so that we can test it!

Deua Rivercare work across tenure on a 42km stretch of the Deua River working on private property, Council managed land, National Park and State Forest. The group work predominately on invasive species control (weeds, pigs and wild dogs) however also conduct revegetation, litter collection, education events and activities and erosion control. Phew!! Huge thanks to Anne Rault for her committed and passionate Coordination of the group.

Time to do a rain dance

With lots of planting on the agenda, all we need is a little rain! As part of the Beach Weeds Project (previously managed by Tom Dexter before he went on to pursue his teaching career) there are plenty of areas along our coastline that are now ready for some revegetation. In particular, areas where Marram Grass has been successfully sprayed and controlled in beaches at Barlings, Tomakin, Broulee, North Heads (Moruya) and Surfside. You don't need to be a member of local Landcare groups in these areas and we will be calling on the wider community to help get a few thousand (!!) plants in the ground. Pictured here are some of the willing helpers at Tomakin earlier in the month. If you are interested in helping out please contact Emma to find out dates & locations.

Upcoming events

Up the Garden Path - Sculpture Exhibition| ERBG 13-29 October Wednesday to Sunday 9am to 4pm

Up the Garden Path showcases local artworks in the picturesque setting of Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens. Curated by Eurobodalla artist Andrea Warren, the exhibition features 57 sculptures by 23 artists, both indoors and outdoors at the Gardens.

Fittingly, all the works are inspired by nature. They are created from a diverse range of materials - from stone, timber and bronze to the more delicate paper and felt - and the majority of works will be for sale.The exhibition is part of a wider plan to diversify Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens and cement it as one of the best in Australia. Depending on its initial success, Up the Garden Path will be held either annually or biennially.

Worm farming workshops | Friday 20 October (Batemans Bay) and Saturday 21 October (Moruya)

Come and learn how to turn your kitchen scraps into rich fertiliser using a worm farm. Participants will each receive a voucher to collect a worm farm after the workshop. Course cost $25.

Phone adult ed community College on 4472 9202 to book.

Home Composting workshops| Various locations November 2017

Learn how to convert unwanted food scraps into a gourmet delight for your garden. One "Earth Machine" home composting kit per household to be given away on completion of workshop.

Friday 3 November, 9.30-11am SAGE gardens Moruya
Saturday 4th November, 9.30-11am SAGE gardens Moruya
Friday 10th November, 9.30-11am Botanic Gardens Batemans Bay
Places are limited and bookings are essential - call 4474 1024

Corrigan's Markets plant swap | Sunday 12th November 8am - Noon

Bring environmental weeds from your garden to the Council Environment stall at Corrigans reserve, Batehaven, and exchange weeds for free native plants.

For more information or to find out more about weeds visit Council's weed list.
To help identify weeds in your garden try our Weed Finder.

Landcare Xmas bus tour | Monday 27th November 9.30am - 3pm

Christmas is just around the corner! Join us for our annual Xmas bus tour which will be visiting sites up the Deua River ... we hope to incorporate a native foods walk and share some of the Aboriginal history of this area.

Meeting in Moruya for a 9.30am departure - bookings essential. Contact Emma for more details.

Broulee Art on the Path | Sunday 17th December & Sunday 7th January 8am-12

Visit the event on Coronation Drive and check out the enviro education trailer as well as being inspired by local artisans. Contact Bernadette Davis 0427 465 209.

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We hope you enjoyed this edition of the Eurobodalla Landcare Newsletter. To contribute to the next edition please send your articles and image to emma.patyus@esc.nsw.gov.au prior to December 15, 2017.

Copyright © 2017 Eurbodalla Landcare Network Inc. All rights reserved

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Eurobodalla Landcare · PO Box 99 · Moruya, Nsw 2537 · Australia