A group of landowners on the Mornington Peninsula is fighting to help reverse the ravages of weeds, feral cats and other threats to public and private land in the area.
EcoCare was formed by environmentally conscious local property owners to protect the sensitive East Creek catchment, which takes in the Red Hill–Flinders volcanic soil area.
Spanning about 2000 hectares, the catchment contains important remnant habitat for wildlife including the locally rare Powerful Owl.
EcoCare is seeking more volunteers to join in the broader effort of protecting native vegetation on their own properties, as well as taking a ‘whole of catchment approach’ to reducing threats.
Supported by the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority (PPWCMA) and the Shire of Mornington Peninsula, the group has secured a grant from the Australian Government’s Envirofund that grant with its own contribution, the group has already begun work to manage weeds in the Aloha Road area.
Sarah Canham, PPWCMA’s Western Port and Dandenong Landcare Coordinator, said the works are designed to control weeds which are spreading through the Aloha Road reserve and threatening the survival of the indigenous plants.
‘The reserve contains a significant patch of indigenous vegetation that is of high conservation value. This patch also acts as an important wildlife corridor between adjoining areas’, Ms Canham said.
EcoCare President, John McCubbing, says locals may have noticed the work starting in late January.
‘With significant support from the Shire of Mornington Peninsula, our volunteers have been working with qualified bush restoration contractors to remove weeds such as Sweet Pittosporum,’ Mr McCubbing said.
‘While weed removal is our biggest problem, we’re also keen to get more bush back into this area, which at one time was almost totally cleared out,’ he said.
‘We still have about a hundred hectares in pristine condition, which is home to some Powerful Owls. We want to make sure the birds continue to thrive and prosper’.
The group is one of several Landcare groups undertaking projects on private and public land on the Peninsula and new volunteers are always welcome. |