Landcare Week shin dig

A huge thank you to the volunteers that came along to help celebrate Landcare Week (3rd-7th Sept) and a massive shout out to The Rivermouth General Store (Tomakin) for keeping us fed and watered in their comfy garden court yard after our Tomakin ramble.

We had a lovely walk around Tomakin Spit where we looked at management issues such as extreme erosion, fencing and consolidation of access points, invasive weed control and revegetation and infrastructure maintenance. Followed by a cuppa and cake - very civilised. To all of our wonderful Landcare volunteers, we hope you also enjoyed a terrific Landcare Week and we thank you for your efforts, past and present, to keep the Eurobodalla looking ship shape. You're the best!!

The year in review
 

Wow! Another great year from Landcare volunteers across the shire - our regular group members, school students, one-off attendees and occasional visitors.... it all adds up to some pretty convincing figures for Landcare in the Eurobodalla. Last financial year over 2000 people volunteered with Landcare in the Eurobodalla - phew! And every contribution counts - no matter how big or small. Thankyou for all that you do on behalf of your community and the environment and we look forward to working with you at future events and working bees.

Check out the recent article below (ps. sorry for the confusing figures! The basics are that there are many many people doing a huge amount of great things - YOU included!)

https://aboutregional.com.au/eurobodalla-landcare-at-an-all-time-high/

20 years young
 

At a recent working bee in Lilli Pilli it was brought to my attention that a very special lady, Judy Thomson, has been the Coordinator for the Lilli Pilli/Malua Bay Landcare group for 20 years!! In typical Judy fashion I think she mentioned this conservatively and without any intention for attention (and it was since whispered in my ear by one of her dedicated group members). Judy had brought some photographs along from the groups activities on Lilli Pilli Beach dating back to the 90s when the group first formed. The pictures of even this small area, within their much larger overall project area, showed tremendous and lasting change. What was once a denuded, eroding and weed infested beach has since been replaced with established native vegetation, consolidated access ways, fencing and many hours of weed control to leave this area looking the way it does today. Which is, simply, just beautiful!

Whilst the restoration of Lilli Pilli Beach has been a group project it has been Judy's fine leadership, amazing organisation, absolute dedication and a heart of gold that has kept this ship afloat. From the group, Eurobodalla Landcare Network, Eurobodalla Shire Council and the wider community - THANK YOU Judy! You are an inspiration, a hard worker, a passionate spokesperson and a delight. We are truly grateful to have you in our fold and we look forward to continuing the friendship. Judy has been talking about handing over the reigns for sometime so if there is anyone within the LPMB group who would be willing to assist I'm sure she would love to hear from you.

On the lookout
 

The Kelly family from Burrawang Landcare group spent some time last week setting up fauna monitoring cameras and hair tubes to try and find out what little critters call The Burrawang property home. Their monitoring consists of 7 infrared motion sensor cameras mounted in trees in various habitat across the property and 9 hair funnels which will enable mammalian hair samples to be collected and sent for DNA analysis. Both techniques are non invasive and are able to be deployed for several weeks in the field so are very wildlife friendly ways of finding out what goes bump in the night!

We will be assisting the group to collect, analyse and redeploy the cameras and funnels to ensure that enough evidence is collected to best represent the faunal species found on the property. Lots of fun pushing through the bush to find the best localities for the cameras. We look forward to sharing the results with the wider Burrawang community, their members and guests, and would be happy to share fauna monitoring resources with any Landcare group that may wish to be involved in a similar study.
 

Inspiring the next generation

There’s nothing like the great outdoors to inspire the mind! This was apparent when 20 selected year 8 students recently attending The Crossing near Bermagui. Council funded four students from each of the shire’s high schools to attend a fully funded three night and four day environment education camp.  The program was focused on putting sustainability in to action for the students to foster their skills to protect and enhance the natural environment. 

Student’s experienced sustainable design, water conservation and renewable energy.  They harvested from the organic gardens, tended the animal systems and lived a true farm-to-table experience.  The student’s journey into sustainability included canoeing and bushwalking to and from the camp into surrounding National Park. Following the camp, Council staff are working with the students at their schools to implement some new environmental projects. It will be exciting to see what fantastic ideas the students develop and implement with their peers. For more information visit  https://thecrossing.thebegavalley.org.au/

3 decades of dunecare in Durras
 

South Durras Landcare group were recent nominees (& fingers crossed awardees!) for the 2018 Coastal Conference Awards. The group were nominated for their efforts to protect and enhance the NSW coastline through ecologically sustainable development of the South Durras foreshore and surrounds. A small snippet from the award nomination regarding the groups work is below;

"SDL were heavily involved in the reshaping and revegatation of the dunes in the late 80s and early 90s under the dune reclamation scheme. They continue to protect this same coastline decades later through continued invasive species control (both weeds and feral animals), protection of native fauna and flora, access consolidation, erosion control, fencing, revegetation, litter collection, training and community education. The group have also help to build and maintain essential and well utilised infrastructure such as the South Durras whale watching platform, Cookies Beach viewing platform, Durras Headland recreational fishing access stairway and viewing platform and the South Durras shared walkway and footpath - all of which contribute to the public amenity, tourist attraction and environmental protection of this beautiful area".

Eurobodalla Shire Council Environment Team were also nominated for an award, by the Office of Environment & Heritage (OEH), for their work on estuary protection. Well done team!

CatBib Program a meowing success
 

Eurobodalla Shire Council has been offering and providing a free CatBib to all cat owners who have a microchipped cat in the Shire. When the cat pounces, the bib gets in the way which allows the split second needed for escape. It also serves as a brightly coloured visual warning as the cat creeps up on its victim.

Cats across the Shire are now wearing a bib. It is becoming normal practice for people to put a bib on their cat before it goes outside. If you have a cat please either go to your vet to get one free or contact Courtney Fink-Downes at Eurobodalla Shire Council on (02) 4474 7493 or email courtney.fink@esc.nsw.gov.au.

 

A postcard on perspective from up north

This season my postcard comes from the Illawarra. I was recently on holiday in Wollongong and this trip was a real reminder of what a fantastic job we do with our invasive species control down here in the Eurobodalla through the combined effort of volunteers, staff and the wider community. I was staying with a friend and was able to see backyards entirely vegetated with Lantana from her back deck, despite this weed being a Weed of National Significance (1 of only 32 listed nationally) as well as a declared Noxious Weed in the Illawarra and, indeed, the Eurobodalla. I particularly 'liked' the picture taken above, one of several native plant regeneration areas that I passed completely enshrouded in this weed. And I wont even tell you how many Indian Mynas I saw!

Its healthy and heartening to take stock and give ourselves a pat on the back for the super state that our bushland and public reserves are in down here and the great work that Councils Invasive Species team do with their private property inspections. Lets keep it this way!
 

Upcoming Eurobodalla Landcare Network AGM - Thursday October 25th
 

Come to the Vulcan Vulcan Café for a quickie - a quick meeting that is. Eurobodalla Landcare Networks AGM will be held on the Thursday October 25th from 10am. We will have a quick review of the past year, look into our crystal balls for some of the upcoming Landcare works and make sure we consider decisions and improvements that benefit our wider network. We aim to have the meeting finished within an hour and welcome any new faces to join us for a cuppa and cake. Please RSVP Emma prior to the 25th if you're are able to come along.

The morning commute
 

Our local bush regeneration contractors consistently go the extra mile to get to hard to reach places. Here' s one of our contractors paddling the Tomaga River so that they can get to fresh water in Mossy Point to take back to Tomakin Spit for weed spraying (not many taps out in the bush!). Some of the hard to reach places and tricky tasks may include; abseiling, kayak/canoe and boat access,  chainsaw works, high volume spraying, river crossings and fumigating rabbit warrens. Its a glamourous job, but someones got to do it!

If your Landcare group has a hard to reach infestation, a tricky task or you simply need a leg up please contact Emma so that we can have someone assist you on your patch. No job too big or too small x x

Xmas is a coming

With the silly season nearly upon us its nearly time to book your seat on the Landcare Christmas bus. This years Christmas party will be held on the Monday 26th of November, departing from Moruya Library at 9.30am. We will be heading down south to look at some of the great work done in and around Dalmeny and Narooma with plenty of yummy treats thrown in to keep up the energy levels. For those of you already down south you can join us down there with a collection point on Mummaga Lake. This event will have limited numbers (ie. seats on the bus) and all booking will be taken through Trybooking. Click on this link to book  https://www.trybooking.com/YWFM

Even if you are joining us in Dalmeny you WILL still need to book a seat for catering and safety purposes - please book using the above link and mention in the comments that you will join us in Dalmeny.
 

Further reading