Blue Mountains Bushcare welcomes new Bushcare Officer Ed Bayliss

Integral to Bushcare is the strength of our community engagement and leadership and we are delighted to introduce you to our new Bushcare Officer Ed Bayliss. Ed will be taking over Stephanie Chew’s Bushcare groups and the Swampcare Program.

Ed has hit the ground running and you may have already met him on site with our experienced Bushcare Officers. Having grown up in the Blue Mountains, Ed has a good understanding of the threats facing our local flora and the particular issues our local community is dealing with.

He has a keen mind for landscape restoration in particular creekline restoration and is currently working towards Environmental Management and Water Sensitive Design degree. You may well have seen or worked with Ed on creekline restoration or Bush regeneration projects throughout the Blue Mountains with the Bush Doctor.

Ed said he is very excited to work for the Blue Mountains City Council in Bushcare and with the local community.

Blue Mountains City Council Bushcare Team Leader Sandy Benson said that Ed’s enthusiasm for the conservation of the region’s natural assets and his friendly attitude was a brilliant addition to the Bushcare team.
Please welcome Ed to the Bushcare family.

Farewell Lyndal Sullivan

from left to right Sandy Benson, Lyndal Sullivan and Matthew Chambers

Lyndal Sullivan, our dedicated, long-time, loved Bushcare Officer, has retired explore a life of rest and relaxation. Those of you who know Lyndal know that isn’t exactly true; she has lots of plans, and I am sure that whoever she shares her time with will be happy to have such a wise and knowledgeable woman on hand.

Lyndal had been with Bushcare for March 2008 in 10 years and has achieved an enormous amount. Her involvement in implementing the Swampcare, Great Grose weed walk and the remote program, as well as completion of numerous grant projects, are a few of her major achievements.

Lyndal began as a dedicated and passionate Bushcare volunteer has also represented Katoomba Creek and was awarded legendary status in 2003. Those who know Lyndal would agree she is passionate about environmental management and conservation. She has been extremely dedicated and hardworking, and will be missed by the Bushcare team. We all wish her well in the next chapter of her life.

Its time to remove the heads from your Agapanthus

Well its that time of year when the seed heads of Agapanthus are forming. The plants by themselves are not too bad as they hold the soil together so in some instances where the soil is unstable they are best left and deheaded.

On the other hand the seed can travel down creeks into the areas of bushland and take root on creekbanks and unusual places like gutters. The root fragments can be spread in the movement of soil and dumped plants can survive for years and take root where they are left.

Agapanthus growing in the gutters of a house

Agapanthus growing in the gutters of a house Photo courtesy of Lachlan Garland

 

Agapanthus are tough plants so they have been used extensively on edges and next to drains. All of these drains and run off lead into the bushland. So if we remove the seeds the plants can not move into the surrounding bushland.

Agapanthus planted next to a roadedge

Agapanthus planted next to a road edge photo courtesy of Lachlan Garland

Farewell to Bushcare Champion

Eric Mahony Bushland Operations Coordinator, long time supporter and previous Bushcare Team Leader will be resigning from Blue Mountains City Council to take up work with Central Tablelands Local Land Services (LLS) in Lithgow, working on biodiversity conservation projects.

Eric Mahony in the field discussing plans with volunteers

Eric worked for the BMCC in the 1990’s with community volunteers undertaking  Bushcare and Landcare programs in conserving and restoring our Blue Mountains bushland, which has been a point of great pride and satisfaction for him. Since then the program has shown what can happen when the community and Council work together, and the significant and lasting environmental outcomes, that are able to be achieved.

Eric said he will miss the support he has received from many of you both on a personal level, as well as at a program level and wishes everyone well. Hoping that Bushcare continues to have the same level of success into the future in protecting and restoring our precious Blue Mountains bushland as it has done for many years.

“For myself, looking forward, the opportunity to work with LLS staff in what has become my home landscape, Lithgow, having lived there for the last 18 years will present a new and exciting challenge. I will be working on various conservation projects with woodland birds, swamps, Copperwing Butterfly and others in the river systems surrounding Lithgow.

The position will provide an opportunity to reconnect with some of these projects and local community members from when I last worked in Lithgow.

For me, there remains significant  environmental challenges found west of the Blue Mountains in my home landscape of  Lithgow and look forward to the opportunity to be involved in projects with the central west communities to address these” he said.

Bushcare staff and volunteers are sad to see Eric leave as he is a well known figure in the environmental field across the Blue Mountains. Eric will be dearly missed, not just for his environmental knowledge and abilities, but also for his friendship, generosity with his time and commitment to public service.

All the best Eric!

Link

The students at Megalong Valley Public School have produced a short film creating real change in their community shining a light on the critically endangered species Callistemon megalongensis in the Megalong Valley.

The students of Megalong Public School are keen Guulong Landcarers and want to spread the message about protecting both threatened species and caring for their local native environment. With support from local legend David King a Gundungurra man, Landcare, Bushcare and the Greater Sydney Landcare Network they have recently been presented an exceptional achievement award by Paul Vale, Blue Mountains Bushcare Network and committee member of GSLN.

Paul Vale presenting Miriam Trenton with award. Photo Credit Bella Smith

Paul Vale presenting Miriam Trenton with award.
Photo Credit Bella Smith

The seven student school is a tribute to leadership and sustainability, and have shot, edited and developed their own film with professional assistance, to create an engaging and entertaining film highlighting conservation values of the Callistemon megalongensis in the Megalong Valley.

The Megalong Valley bottlebrush is a critically endangered species, restricted to a small range of just 10kms around the Megalong Public School, with only 200 plants identified.

According to the Office of Environment and Heritage, the small total population size makes this species highly vulnerable to the following threatening processes including:

  • High frequency fire, as well as intense hot fires that burn the peat layers of the swamp habitat. Also lack of fire may result in excessive weedy scrub development.
  • Road upgrades and maintenance of road verges, powerlines and water mains where this species occurs can cause direct damage to plants as well as erosion, sedimentation, weed invasion and other forms of degradation to the habitat of this species.
  • Weed invasion, particularly Japanese honeysuckle and blackberry.
  • Altered swamp hydrology.
  • Grazing by cattle and horses.
  • Horse riding and recreational vehicular use (recreational 4WDs and trail bikes) along informal tracks intersecting swamps containing this species.
  • Erosion caused by pig diggings and wallows damages habitat.

The “Save the Callistemon Megalongensis” film can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT1Z3eUaO30> 

Save the Callistimon megalongensis photo

 

For more information on the Callistemon megalongensis click: www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10517

 

 

Gully combined day 2018

Upper Kedumba Bushcare group hosted 35 Volunteers from Garguree swampcare and Friends Of Katoomba falls groups and the broader BC community in our annual Kedumba Catchment Gully get-together.

David King welcoming the group onto country

It was a great success, with a wonderful community feel and a great boost to The Upper Kedumba Bushcare site, with so many enthusiastic and committed helping hands we also had 5 new volunteers join in.

After a full work morning we indulged in a wonderful shared feast and heard from Eric Mahony about works in the catchment and how our workdays positively impact on it and Jane about our Bushcare native bee metropolis and who we would likely see using the bee hotels.

We were working on 4 different site components, giving a variety of work options to the volunteers so they could join in with tasks to challenge them and also tasks where they would feel familiar and relaxed.

Our work day consisted of

1 – Continuing to create a wetland soak in the low lying section of Upper Kedumba, to change the environmental conditions currently present, trying to create a wetter area hoping to diminish annual grasses and create more habitat for aquatic critters, whilst slowing the flow of the water in big rain events capturing it on site , and stripping nutrients from it.

In Feb/March we hope to plant this area out with Juncus and other sedges

Installation of water detention devices

Installation of water detention devices

2 – Continuing on with a creation of a mulch path through the site – The long-term vision is to create a site where local community will feel inclined to walk through it and stop and find out about local native bees, fauna and habitat creation and why these things are needed and how important they are in our local environment.

3- Removal of small and large privets in bands across the slope – this work will be supported by a day of contracting works in the next 3 months and continued planting of endemic species.

4- Removal of Montbretia from a drainage line.

Thank you to all who came along and helped with our ongoing Bushcare works
By Jane Anderson

Welcome back to another exciting year of Bushcare!

We hope you have had a wonderful holiday season!  Now, it is January and that time when many of us reassess our busy lives and think about what we want to accomplish or do to balance our lives during the next year. With that in mind, here’s to peaceful days on your Bushcare sites with friends.

Here’s hoping that time off over the holiday season has not had too much impact on your Bushcare site. It is inevitable that with the recent storms and heat across the Blue Mountains that your patch may have undergone significant changes while you were gone.

Bushcarers are doing people and would just love to get in there and get the site cleaned up straight away. Stay safe in the hot weather by taking a few precautions:

  • Schedule your workday by weeding in shaded areas
  • Take regular breaks
  • Drink lots of water
  • Wear light and loose-fitting clothing
  • Pace yourself and rest when you need to
  • Keep an eye on each other for signs of heat exhaustion

We have a fun filled program planned for Blue Mountains Bushcare this year. It is different to previous years with new training courses and workshops in that you will be taking part in to enhance your knowledge of your site and the surrounding catchment, so keep an eye out for these on the Bushcare Website, Gecko and Bulletin.

Looking forward to catching up with you all over the year ahead.

Sandy Benson
Bushcare Team Leader

Changes to the Noxious Weeds Act 1993

WHAT HAS CHANGED?

From the 1st of July 2017 the NSW Government has replaced the Noxious Weeds Act 1993 with the Biosecurity Act 2015. Under the Biosecurity Act 2015, the Blue Mountains City Council, as the Local Control Authority, has a legal obligation to manage the biosecurity risk posed or likely to be posed by reducing the impacts of Priority Weeds.

WHAT IS BIOSECURITY?

Biosecurity refers to the protection of native plant communities; reducing the risk to human health: and the risk to agricultural production, from invasive weeds.

WHAT DOES THE NEW BIOSECURITY ACT MEAN FOR ME?

Under the Biosecurity Act, landowners have a responsibility to control the risk that Priority Weeds on their property pose to neighbouring bushland and properties.

Residents will see a change in the terminology used, for example, the term Noxious Weed will be replaced with Priority Weeds or Biosecurity Matter, and weed notices/orders will be issued as Biosecurity Directions under the Biosecurity Act. There are also some changes target invasive plants identified as Priority Weeds compared to previous Noxious Weeds lists.

Therefore the Noxious Weeds Classification of individual weeds is no longer correct.

Will the Biosecurity Act change the way Council manages weeds on private property?

No. Council’s Urban Weeds Program and the process for inspecting private properties for invasive weeds will continue unchanged. Council will also maintain its current approach to education and enforcement relating to invasive weeds. Council will maintain the current process for issuing Weed Control Notices. The main differences will be the terminology used and that Orders will be issued under the Biosecurity Act. They will be known as Biosecurity Directions.

For further information on Priority Weeds in the Blue Mountains please download the Priority Weeds Information Booklet here;

https://www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/files/PriorityWeedsInformationBooklet.pdf

Blue Mountains Priority Weeds Information

For further information on the Greater Sydney Regional Strategic Weed Management Plan 2017, and can be found on:

Department of Primary Industries website

https://greatersydney.lls.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/722368/Greater-Sydney-Regional-Weed-Mgmt-Plan-29-June-2017_FINAL-web-res.pdf

or download the FREE NSW Department of Primary Industries weed app

NSW Weedwise app

Where you will find the weeds listed for the Blue Mountains including a profile of the weed and your Biosecurity duty under the Biosecurity Act 2015.