October 12 - Fundraising Luncheon
Many Port Macquarie residents may be appreciative of the marvellous work being done by Landcare volunteers in their neighbourhood reserves or at the nearby beaches, but never had the opportunity to pass on their gratitude.
Now is their chance to say thank you to the volunteers, and at the same time fund some equipment for the ongoing maintenance at the numerous project sites around Port Macquarie.
Project managers often have to apply for government or corporate grants to fund the clothing and equipment required for volunteers to perform their weeding and tree planting tasks each week.
Volunteers weeding bushland areas need tools, chemicals and protective clothing; others need gumboots and waders to access boggy swamplands.
Volunteers working on sand dune revegetation need sun protection (hats, long sleeve shirts, sunscreen, etc)
Tools for all projects need to be purchased periodically and maintained regularly.
Tuesday 12th October 2010 will see Port Macquarie Landcare’s inaugural fundraising luncheon being held at the Sea Acres Rainforest café from 11.30am.
Tickets are only $35 and numbers are limited, so bookings are essential on 6582 4444.
Included is a 2 course lunch with a glass of locally grown wine, and tea or coffee.
The special guest speaker is Bill Peel – Port Macquarie Hastings Council ecologist and author of the CSIRO’s ‘Rainforest Restoration Manual’.
There will be autographed copies of his rainforest book for sale on the day too.
Landcare’s Blair St project manager and local entertainer Tony Bischoff will be performing his new ‘Landcare’ song (written especially for this occasion).
There will also be an auction of ‘environmentally friendly’ products – everything from potting mix and native plants, to nature books and annual passes for Sea Acres.
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Focus Article (October 2010) - Down in the Swamp...
Where the Wild Taro Grows... You will find a dedicated band of Landcarers (the Swamp Rats), hand-removing
Taro Colocasia esculenta which is an invasive troublemaker in the gaps of our local damaged Swamp Sclerophyll
Forest.
Taro is a fast growing aquatic weed with dark reddish purple stalks and very large, arrowhead-shaped dark green,
velvety leaves (somewhat like elephant’s ears), hence it’s oft-used common name. In some parts of the world taro
is harvested for the potato like tubers: ‘esculenta’ means edible. The plant is actually poisonous if eaten raw
due to raphides (needle-shaped crystals in the plant’s cells) which leads to severe stomach ache.
So why is this native of the Pacific islands here and, more importantly: why is it in OUR
swamp? Well....it was the last fad in gardening: but Taro’s popularity has since worn
off and some took the cheap option of dumping this weed out into the nearest waterway (our swamp).
Wild Taro pollutes water by trapping organic matter in its roots, producing foul smelling sediment.
Disturbed plants can release toxins harmful to wildlife and rapidly out-competes natives. We have
found no evidence of wildlife using the Wild Taro patches as habitat; which may be due to these toxins.
It has the ability to destroy the canopy of the forest and in so doing creates more gaps which are its preferred
habitat.
The Landcare Community Nursery monitored a range of methods of chemical control (none of which were successful and/or safe near waterways). So it comes down to hand removal being the most effective method. This is a lot of hard work and fun (see the results with our before and after photos and us in our best Personal Protective Equipment of Gumboots and Waders) . Most of our work has been done in Rushcutter Creek where it crosses Cathie Rd (at Lighthouse Beach). The area upstream of the road was full of Taro and now the native reeds and sedges have come back: much better for our local frogs and fish.
The Taro is growing in amongst the threatened tree Biconvex Paperbark Melaleuca biconvexa which has become vulnerable to these weeds in its only home in Port Macquarie: a plant community called “Swamp Sclerophyll Forest”. Even its own plant community is threatened by land clearing and changes to the water flow on the site.
We are lucky in Port Macquarie in that we have some very significant stands of this species. This is one of the few areas where it sets viable seed (that germinates). Only found in New South Wales, it grows in damp places from Jervis Bay in the south to the Northern Rivers. The white flowers burst forth in just a 3-4 week period between September and October (and then not every year).
Biconvex Paperbark is a beautiful small tree, usually up to 10 m tall, though occasionally as high as 20 m. The placement of the leaves is very distinctive, with each pair of leaves emerging at right angles from the branch. Each pair is offset at right angles to the previous pair so the branch has a squarish appearance when looked at 'end-on'. There are stunning photos on our website of one of our rescued trees in full flower taken at Rushcutters Way this month. The flowering this year has been prolific following the dedicated weeding work of our Landcare and Conservation Volunteers.
The other plants in this Swamp Sclerophyll Forest are Prickly Paperbark Melaleuca styphelioides (that wears a crown of beautiful fern and orchid epiphytes), Broadleaf paperbark M. Quinquenervia (nectar for the birds), Cunjevoi Alocasia brisbanensis (the frogs love these), Creek Sandpaper fig, Ficus coronata and Small leaved fig Ficus obliqua (fruit for the birds). These are planted to close the damaged gaps and thereby rob the Taro of its favoured habitat so that in time it will be more difficult to invade again in the future.
The Landcare volunteers would like to thank all the local residents who keep an eye on our good work helping to protect it from vandals as well as all those lovely people who stop to let us know how much they appreciate what we are doing.
See The Photos...
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The Landcare Green Fingers
We are the recently formed “Green Fingers” team. The group originally came
together as the “Green Gym”, part of Australian Conservation Volunteers,
under the expert guidance of Paul Price. We worked on a number of bush
regeneration projects in the Port Macquarie area so, with the demise of
“Green Gym” it was a natural transition for us to join Landcare and continue
the work we all enjoy.
We have ongoing projects at Rushcutter Way and Tacking Point but we all like
a bit of variety so we join in other Landcare events such as the Corporate
Working Bee at Absalom reserve and school experience day at Lighthouse Beach.
We have also helped out at the Lilypond reserve and Wyndham Resort. We work
three mornings each week.Some of us work all three and others come when they
can. There is always plenty of tea, coffee and biscuits and often home-made
goodies baked by team members. There is no shortage of gossip and banter.
We have a collection of photos at www.flickr.com/photos/42745225@N07
We thought that rainbow coloured hair was compulsory so we prepared properly
to pick up our new uniforms from Estelle! It should grow out in a few months.
(Standing (left to right): Leonard, David, Helen, Marilyn, Bruce, Erika,
Ros, Alan, Marie, Sue Sitting: Paul, Estelle
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Nursery volunteers were involved in the potting of 2000 Nothafagus
moorei (Antarctic Beech)seedlings that will be used by Dr. Ross Peacock in
Climate Change experiments. The seedlings (or wildlings) were collected from
road verges at Werrikimbe NP in an area already subject to long term rainforest
study. Dr. Peacock said “a research student has been enrolled and will experiment
with these seedlings and the Ceratopetalum apetalum (Coachwood) seedlings as part
of a rainforest climate adaption study. The seedlings will be grown under elevated
and ambient CO2, increased temperature and different shading conditions to simulate
the 2050 and 2070 projected climates for the North Coast. This information will help
NPWS plan for climate adaption strategies for the Nothofagus rainforest plant
communities at Werrikimbe”
The results of this research will hopefully be presented by Dr. Ross Peacock
and Bill Chapman at next years Science Week talks at Sea Acres in August 2010.
The usual group of volunteers were joined by other Landcarers and volunteers
from Sea Acres. It was great to meet other volunteers and to be involved in
something quite different from our usual tasks. We will all be interested in
hearing the results of the experiments
From left: Ruth, Maggie, Lorraine, Estelle, Bill Chapman and Ann
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November, 2009
Melaleuca biconvexa seed collected for Seed Bank
Recently Port Macquarie was visited by Richard Johnstone and Graeme Errington
from the NSW Seed bank that is part of the Mt Annan Botanic Gardens.The seed
they were collecting was from the vulnerable species Melaleuca biconvexa, it
is interesting in very rarely setting seed right across its distribution. The
seeds collected will be germination tested to see what quality is in the
collection and what their initial germination rate is, then after drying
for a couple of months in a drying room (15 degrees,.15 percent RH) the
collection will be split and half will go to the Millennium Seed Bank,
the other half will stay at NSW Seedbank at Mt Annan Botanic Garden The
seeds will be stored at-18 degrees and are expected to survive for at
least hundreds of years possibly even thousands
Richard Johnstone with local Landcarer Estelle Gough
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The 2009 Landcare Forum visits the Lilypond.
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Friday, September 4, 2009
Landcare Day Corporate Working Bee
This proved to be a fabulous success, with over 60 Volunteers from various organisations
in Port Macquarie on hand to change a park in a day.
The day was spent clearing out infestations of weeds, mulching, cleaning up the creek and
planting approx 1000 native plants. Not forgetting the fabulous morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea.
Many thanks should go to all those who contributed and Participated.
Port Macquarie Hastings Council.
Holiday Coast Credit Union
ERM
Douglas Vale
Green Gym
Greencorps
Country Energy
Landcare Volunteers
We should do this again!
Please contact Estelle on 0432 141 605
or email nursery@landcareportmac.com.au
(Left) 1000 Plants Planted, mulched and watered (Right) Rob Oakeshott gives a helping hand.
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Tony Burke visits Landcare Nursery
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Burke, spent a morning
with Estelle Gough at the Landcare Nursery and Blair Reserve. During morning tea,
representatives or NRCMA and Hastings Landcare where able to discuss local issues with the minister.
The Minister also visiited Blair Reserve Bushland Resoration Project, a nominee
for 'Tidy Towns Sustaineable Communities Award 2009'
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Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Blair Reserve Nominated for Tidy Towns Award
Representatives of the Tidy Towns commitee and Landcare volunteers where onsite at the
Blair Reserve Bushland Resoration Project for the evaluation of the nomination for
'Tidy Towns Sustaineable Communities Award 2009'
This site is a tribute to all the work done by the Landcare Volunteers.
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Web Site Updated (2009-08-26)
News of Ministers Visit
Upcoming Events
South Lighthouse Beach Dunes page updates
Web Site Updated (2009-08-19)
Update Working Bee times
Project details and photos added
Plant List and Propagation Tips
New Plant of the Month
Web Site Updated (2009-07-01)
Project details and photos added
Working Bee Schedule (2009-01-27)
Visit the volunteers page for more info about working bees and how to get involved
New Website (2009-01-09)
Welcome to the new Port Macquarie Landcare Group website. It is still under construction so
please feel free to send any feedback to
info @ landcareportmac.com.au
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