On a cold and misty Saturday morning in late May, four hardy Popes Glen volunteers met two Bushcare Officers (James and Michael) at the end of Connaught Road, Blackheath. The phone calls had started at around 7 am with the NPWS and BMCC staff discussing the weather and if we should cancel. It didn’t look promising!

By 8.50 am, with the BMCC crew assembled, the rain had stopped and there was even a hint of sun. Two cakes were delivered for the after-lunch dessert, so we had no excuse but to head into Popes Glen. Everything was soaked by the rain and the mist, so the vegetation was looking lush and amazing. The plan was for Popes Glen Bushcare volunteers to head upstream from the BMCC Reserve and National Park boundary whilst the NPWS volunteers worked downstream.

We headed upstream to a known gorse hotspot, but first Paul Vale described the area we were in and how it looked just after the 2019/20 bushfires. We all marvelled at the lush scene before us given the burnt landscape Paul described in early 2020 when the Reserve re-opened after the fire and then the flooding rains. The skeletons of mountain ash trees killed by the fire was the only obvious sign of the impact visible today. Paul also described the gorse and broom plants that germinated in their thousands but quickly pounced on by contracted bush regenerators, BMCC Natural Area Operations staff and Bushcare volunteers.

Then we took the plunge into the thick regrowth and damp creek-side vegetation. Once we got our eyes in, we noticed a few gorse, and leeches, and the odd broom and blackberry. Apart from a Tim Tam break at morning tea, we worked steadily up the creek removing the weeds as we went. By the time we reached Clarence Street we had added Himalayan honeysuckle and agapanthus to the species removed list. All up approximately 200 mostly gorse plants were removed from the BMCC reserve.

This was a significant reduction in the number of plants compared to last year with a continuing decline in gorse each year since the fire, indicating how effective the initial and continued efforts of gorse control have been.

Thank you to Monica and NPWS for a delicious lunch at the end. By 1.30 pm the rain had set in again. Thank you to everyone on the day and those that were part of the GGWW previously. Your hard work is definitely paying off.

— Michael Smith, Bushcare Team Leader