On Sunday 29th September 2024, Greater Sydney Landcare hosted eight enthusiastic participants at the Douglas Park Weir to help restore one of the most degraded sites in the Wollondilly area. This site is a primary koala corridor, yet it is thick with weeds and has been left devasted by floods.
Restoring Catchment & Community Resilience
This work was part of the Restoring Catchment & Community Resilience project.
Greater Sydney Landcare is helping restore the health and resilience of key catchment lands in the Wollondilly Shire as part of a partnership between Great Eastern Ranges and Amazon Web Services.
The two-year project aims to restore catchment land in key locations in the Wollondilly Shire to improve water yield and quality, boost biodiversity and enhance the resilience of local communities to the impacts of climate change.
Repairing a Koala Corridor
The following report is by Vanessa Gimellaro, Greater Sydney Landcare’s Project Lead for the Restoring Catchment & Community Resilience project, who led the Koala Corridor Repair Workshop.
“Our first mission was to address erosion caused by water rushing down the steep slope,” Vanessa said. “Daniel and the boys from Apical Bushfire & Planning taught us how to build leaky weirs to slow the water and allow the sediment to fill the void and level the area. We filled and packed sandbags, and stacked logs to build walls.”
“Our next mission was to stabilise a loose sand bank. We mixed blade grass seed and locally collected seed with sand and threw it liberally across the bank. We then lay hessian mesh over the top and secured it. We hope to see new shoots appearing soon.”
“We planted 50 hardy native plants higher on the bank before venturing across the road to secure another loose sandbank, this time with coir logs. We had planted this side with 100 trees, shrubs and groundcovers a month prior. The coir logs will stabilise where we walk so we do not impact the new plants and prevent the sand from blowing onto the road surface.”
“Finally, we climbed to the top of the site to plant 250 trees, shrubs and groundcovers in a section cleared of Lantana a few months before. All plants were grown from locally sourced seed and propagated at the Robin Davies Community Nursery at Picton. All together, we planted 300 trees on the day.”
“Thank you to everyone involved in the day, you made a real impact. But our job is not done. I will be running more events at this site in the future. If you would like to be involved, contact me on vanessa.gimellaro@greatersydneylandcare.org or keep an eye on Greater Sydney Landcare’s Eventbrite for event advertising,” Vanessa said.
Get Involved Today
Are you in or around the Wollondilly Shire? You can be a part of the Restoring Catchment & Community Resilience project.
Join Buxton Landcare and get involved in upcoming conservation events in the Wollondilly area.
To discuss opportunities to get involved in the project, contact Vanessa β vanessa.gimellaro@greatersydneylandcare.org
