Just a reminder that our next Quarterly Hall Meeting will be held on Wednesday 30 May at 7.30 pm at the Bemboka Memorial Hall.
The main business will be to discuss progress so far on the 10 year detailed management plan for the Bemboka River Reserve Project, review roles and responsibilities for ongoing conservation of the Reserve, and plan for priority on-ground tasks for the next three months.
Then join us for supper after the meeting.
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Walking through the Bemboka River Reserve with Jackie Miles yesterday was a delight to the senses. The air was still and a gentle Autumn sun imparted a red glint to the kangaroo grass. WHAT A PITY THAT THERE WAS NO ONE ELSE THERE WITH US! Without a small group to help with the task, we abandoned our plans to tackle woody weeds by cutting and painting, and spent the afternoon finishing the task of mapping weed infestations.
Jackie now feels confident that she has the information she needs to start drafting the detailed management plan. This will contain:
African lovegrass, fireweed and St John’s wort are the main environmental threats to the Reserve (as they are to the rest of our catchment area). Processes for controlling these, and other weeds, will be set out in the plan and responsibilities assigned. However, the biggest threat to the ongoing ecological health of the Researve is likely to be lack of community interest. Without a small volunteer workforce, any detailed management plan will come to nothing. Involving the school in a Spring planting will hopefully raise awareness of the significance of the Reserve.
This satellite map shows how the Reserve itself is bounded by Columbo Creek, the Bemboka River and the cemetery. To the west of the cemetery is a horse common managed by the Bemboka Commons Trust, and to the east is a Travelling Stock Reserve (TSR) currently managed under trust by the Southeast Livestock Health and Pest Authority, but with plans underway to hand it back to crown land.
The road to Cobargo and Bega once passed between the horse common, cemetery and TSR on one side and the Reserve on the other. It is interesting to walk along here and see signs of road use like this old car spending its last remaining days in the forest.
These areas of land are outside the Reserve but have an impact on it, with weeds not stopped by boundary fences. Jackie has therefore spent some time mapping weed infestations in these areas. The horse common is a jumble of gates and fences with a stand of pine trees. The cemetery is regularly mowed. The TSR is currently overgrown with African lovegrass and other weeds and these will need to be controlled to protect the Reserve. The horse common, old road and TSR may also eventually be folded into the Reserve and come under our protection.
With all these extra pieces of land to consider, I’m only just beginning to realise just how many stakeholders will need to have input into the management plan. Invitations have been issued to everyone we can think of for our next quarterly meeting of the Bemboka Landcare Group to be held on Wednesday 30 May at 7.30pm in the Bemboka Memorial Hall.
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Our second planning day with consultant botanist Jackie Miles will double as a working bee:
When: Sunday 6 May, 1.00-5.00 pm
Where: Colombo Park, Bemboka
A walkthrough of the Bemboka River Reserve observing late Autumn changes in the ecological community and targeting woody weeds (African boxthorn, hawthorn, etc) with ringbarking and painting techniques.
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Jackie Miles
On Sunday 1 April we held the first of four planning days to help our consultant botanist Jackie Miles develop a detailed management plan for the Bemboka River Reserve.
Attendance was smaller than we had hoped but in a way this was good, as it showed what can be achieved by a small group with targeted objectives. We crossed Columbo Creek and then walked south towards the junction of the creek and Bemboka River, observing the condition of the reserve and using GPS to record the location of weed infestations.
A thunderstorm drove us back to shelter before we could go any further so we met up on the following Wednesday morning to finish our mapping.
Jackie’s draft plan of management completed in 2003 had nine recommendations.
Of these 1 and 5 have been completed and there was plenty of evidence that Bega Valley Shire Council has been spraying to control weeds in the reserve (2-4). An initial planting along Colombo Creek has also been completed by the school (7) and many of the new trees and shrubs had survived the drought and thriven over the last two years . Our challenge for the detailed management plan will be to find sustainable ways to continue the work from recommendations 2-4 and 6 and to implement recommendations 7-9.
During our walkthrough, we observed that the reserve was in generally good condition after 10 years without grazing. The themeda trianda (kangaroo grass) is well established in open areas and there are also some lovely meadows of microlaena stipoides (weeping grass) in shadier parts of the reserve, and attractive native groundcovers like dichondra repens (kidney weed) under trees.
The trees themselves are healthy and diverse, with examples of black wattle, white stringybark, yellow box, forest red gum and ribbon gum amongst others. We discussed the idea of reintroducing koalas to the area. (The last colony was destroyed by the bushfires in 1971.)
The worst area of weed infestation is along Columbo Creek – the area already targeted for revegetation by the school – and this is where we are now planning to have a small Spring planting and a larger Autumn planting as part of the project. The track between the reserve and the cemetery is also weed-infested and will need to be included in the management plan.
On the Wednesday, we brought cotton gloves, hoes, cutting tools and buckets and combined walking and talking with weed control. This sounds obvious in retrospect, but Jackie ignored weeds like fleabane that had already flowered, and St John’s wort, with its rhyzomatous roots, and targeted pullable weeds just starting to flower like fireweed and stinking roger. We cut off the flower heads and put these in the bucket and left the pulled plants as mulch, making it much easier to carry home the parts of the plant that needed destroying. I was surprised how much could be covered by groups of two or three people striking out over a large area through this targeted approach.
It makes sense for our detailed management plan to include monthly working bees with activities geared to the season and what is starting to flower. And it also makes sense to start now, combining talking and planning with learning and constructive outcomes. Therefore, we have now set our second planning day with Jackie to double as a working bee to be held on Sunday 6 May at 1.00pm, meeting up at Columbo Park to see how things have changed since April and to target woody weeds (African boxthorn, hawthorn, etc) with ringbarking and painting techniques.
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Sunday 1 April
1.00 pm to 5.00 pm
Colombo Park
The first of four planning days to help our consultant botanist Jackie Miles develop a detailed management plan for the Bemboka River Reserve.
Background reading:
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Don’t forget that our first meeting for 2012 is scheduled for 7.30 pm, Wednesday 29 February 2012 at the Bemboka Memorial Hall. This will be a great year for the group, as we have just received a grant towards the ‘Bemboka River Reserve EEC Restoration and Community Education project’.
At the meeting we will discuss the milestones for this project, how the money is to be spent and what community input will be needed. We’ll also look at other priority activities for 2012 and finalise arrangements for the Landcare Stand at the Bemboka Show.
Join us after the meeting for supper.
RSVP by ringing Judith on 64930491 or via our contact form.
Everybody is welcome! We need your ideas and feedback. The membership fee is $2 per year, payable at the February meeting or the next activity of the group that you attend.
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A two-day forum is being held at the Bega Showground Pavilion on 28-29 February 2012, entitled ‘Meeting the Challenge for Change’. A range of presenters will deliver a strong message for fundamentally redesigning the foundations on which farming depends. Full registration for the two days is $100. Students pay $60, with registration required by 17 February. Speakers include Gary McDouall, Tanya Massy, Christine Jones, Tim Marshall and Geoff Pryor.
For more details, see the Amazing Carbon website.
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This week we received official notification of the success of our application for a Caring for Our Country Community Action Grant. We have been offered $16,580 towards our ‘Bemboka River Reserve EEC Restoration and Community Education project’.
In the list of successful projects, this is described as follows:
The project is focused on protecting and rehabilitating an 18 hectare remnant of Endangered Ecological Community (EEC) near Bemboka, NSW. This EEC is classified as “Lowland Grassy Woodland in the South East Corner Bioregion”, an EEC that has been widely depleted in the region. This remnant is in relatively good condition and with focused community input, will be able to be managed so that it’s high ecological value can be preserved and community access can be improved. The project will also increase the potential to engage other land mangers to rehabilitate and protect EEC’s on their farms, thereby increasing the extent and viability of these valuable environments. The project will involve many hours of in-kind volunteer and agency contribution.
If you are interested in being involved in this project and discussing our other planned activities for 2012, join us at our first meeting of the year at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 29 February 2012 at the Bemboka Memorial Hall.
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The Spring newsletter has just been released.
John Walker will be hosting a ‘grassland field walk and wonder’ looking at native grass identification and management on Wednesday, December 7th from 10.00-1.00pm at Palarang, west of Bombala. Details can be found here:
Grassland Field Walk and Wonder – “Palarang”.
The University of New England (UNE) is conducting a survey on landholders’ experience with fireweed. The deadline for completing the survey is Friday, December 16th.
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