RUSHCUTTERS LANDCARE PROJECT
Rushcutter Reserve
Revegetation Project – A Lesson Learned
This project was commenced two years ago in an area adjacent to Moondarra Tce. and Spindrift
Row on the flood plain and banks of Rushcutter water course.
The banks were worked by removing existing weed species wild tobacco, senna and
lantana from the site. The banks were then mulched and planted with plants indigenous
to the site. Conservation Volunteers of Australia (CVA) contributed to a lot of this
work. Port Macquarie Landcare volunteers together with Duke of Edinburgh students
have continued with maintenance weeding of the area.
The flood plain and creek lines have been weeded and replanted with plants indigenous
to the site. The plants have been bagged and staked to give the plants a better chance
to become well established. The bags were tied to 1 stake to help keep the bags out of
the environment.
All this work has met with great approval by the neighbours and interested parties,
however, the volunteers were in the position of fighting against the flood plains
natural function of transporting weed seeds onto the site. This highlighted the
need for more strategic planning when commencing a site. Often sites are commenced
by neighbours who would like to “take care of the bush” behind their house. This
is commendable but leads to ineffective results overall. Looking at the whole
catchment gives a good indication of where the problems are likely to come from.
Until this is addressed the work on the down stream area will be wasted.
Work has been done recently by the council to assess the health of all their urban
reserves, prioritising sites to be worked on. This will greatly assist Port Macquarie
Landcare Group to plan more strategically effective sites.
Rushcutter Reserve will continue to be maintained but new works will be focused along
Bangalay Drive which will result in better outcomes for the area first commenced along
with greater satisfaction for the volunteers.
Some of our volunteers travel from Herons Creek and Bonny Hills but as yet no locals
have become regulars. We really need YOU. Just a couple of hours on the 4th Sunday
of each month will bring this reserve back to full health
Contact:
Estelle Gough
Phone: 0432 141 605
nursery @ landcareportmac.com.au
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So what are we doing?
Volunteering is not all hard work!
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