Weeding way down south
Annual Cockle Creek Weed Busters Working Bee
Wildcare Friends of Far South
Well ! did we strike it on the money last week for spectacular weather.
We experienced glorious blue skies and light winds at Cockle Creek so the weed busters got stuck right in!
The commitment to Cockle Creek through the ‘Wildcare Friends of Far South’ is mounting.
Especially with the knowledge and expertise of folks like Rebecca Johnson (Bec) and Sally Sailer.
Bec ( a weed management officer in local council) gave up her weekend after dealing with weeds for her work to contribute to Cockle Creek and Sally ( a volunteer in many of our community groups and Co-Chair of Wildcare Inc. ) have been leading the way, observing and mapping and keeping Parks and Wildlife Service informed about the spread of weeds in this sensitive southern location, next to the TWWHA, for a number of years.
August 2015 seems to be one of momentum with 9 volunteers from across the state and several PWS staff working for 3 days on a range of weeds. A big day saw primary control of a very large and TALL patch of gorse at Catamaran and the rest of the time was spent returning to previous sites of weeding for ‘ follow up ‘ of Broom, Erica, Arum Lily at Colbins and Cockle Creek, to name a few.
Everyone put in a focused effort and enjoyed each others company in the evening , especially enjoying the dinners that Kate Frankcombe created for us.
Ranger In Charge Ian Marmion joined the volunteers and was very appreciative of what was achieved, as were Rangers Shane Burgess and Jen Mudge and Field Officer Pete Price.
A followup meeting with Bec Johnson and Sally Sailer and PWS SW staff is planned to plan for priority yearly work plan.
So the combination of PWS staff and volunteer community giving us a hand is really helping us ensure that a number of invasive weed species don’t spread into the World Heritage Area.