27 May 2019

If you’ve ever had to deal with African boxthorn, you know that it’s large, dense and thorny and difficult to remove without machinery.

As part of the Revitalising Jackson’s Creek project in Sunbury, the Wurundjeri Narrap Rangers recently teamed up with Have A Dig Excavations to clear boxthorn on a 2.5km section of the waterway.

The below video and photos show Wurundjeri Elder, Jason Tweedie, making light work of this tough weed.

The ‘Restoring the natural glory of Jacksons Creek at Sunbury’ project is working to establish a substantial buffer corridor of native vegetation along 10.5 kilometres of the creek (between the Emu Bottom Wetlands and Salesian College) in order to decrease stress on remnant native vegetation as a result of urban development.

The Jacksons Creek corridor is home to local populations of the Swift Parrot, Growling Grass Frog and Platypus, but it is also home to a growing local community. Urban growth and development is proceeding at a very rapid pace in the Sunbury area.

In recent years, the population has reached 35,000 with further development in this growth corridor estimated to lead the Sunbury-Diggers Rest area to house 71,000 people. Through the Greening the Maribyrnong program, the PPWCMA is bringing governments, communities and businesses together to achieve a shared vision that supports both the community and the natural environment.

The Wurundjeri Tribe Council’s Narrap land management team have been playing an important role in the delivery of on-ground works, including the control of exotic species, weeds and rabbits and undertaking cultural burns.

The broader Sunbury community have been engaged through community plantings run in conjunction with the Friends of Emu Bottom Wetland.

The project is funded by the Victorian Government.