Bush Regeneration Team ready for action

It’s been a busy summer for Nature Conservation Margaret River Region’s Bush Regeneration Team, which has been tackling weedy trees, spraying the last of the season’s arum lilies, and carrying out coastal conservation.

The team have been flat out during the festive season doing conservation contract work for private landholders as well as in Shire of Augusta Margaret River reserves and national park areas overseen by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.

But with the 2024 calendar filling up fast, Bush Regeneration Team coordinator Declan McGill urged local landholders who wanted conservation work done on their properties to get in touch. Nature Conservation’s bush regenerators are available for fee-for-service contract work such as weed management and control, planting natives and watering seedlings.

“It’s been a really rewarding summer so far, with our team controlling weeds such as vinca at Glenborne Estate near Ellensbook and tackling weedy Blackwood wattle trees at Voyager Estate near the Boodjidup Creek. We’ve also been finishing the last of the arum lily control in wet areas such as Taylor’s Nature Reserve in Vasse, and doing coastal work including brushing and fencing of hooded plover breeding sites,” said Mr McGill.

“If you have a bush block or rural property, now is the perfect time to be thinking about identifying and tackling woody weeds like Sweet Pittosporum or Sydney Golden Wattle, which should be controlled now to prevent another year of seedlings. It’s also a good time for grass control, for example if you have kikuyu taking over waterways and riparian zones.

“If you can’t carry out the work yourself, we specialise in environmentally sensitive weed control, and we’ve got a wealth of experience dealing with sensitive ecological communities. The ethics of land care are at the core of what we do, with the goal of more ecological diversity and bringing back natives. Plus, all funds from hiring the Bush Regeneration Team go directly back into funding Nature Conservation’s work to protect our environment across the Margaret River Region.”

Nature Conservation general manager Drew McKenzie said the conservation group also employs a biodiversity officer who can visit your property to carry out a biodiversity assessment, survey flora and fauna, assess any threats, and create a multi-year plan to improve the biodiversity of the property.

Voyager Estate vineyard manager Glen Ryan said it was a great team effort teaming up with Nature Conservation last month to eradicate hundreds of weedy wattles that were choking the bush and threatening Boodjidup Creek.

“We got in touch with Nature Conservation, and we’re stoked we can go forward and start making some progress by systematically removing the Blackwoods that don’t belong here,” he said. “We’ve seen how quickly they can spread, and they’re choking the bush. We’re excited to really improve on what we’ve got here on the estate.”

To find out more or hire Nature Conservation’s Bush Regeneration Team, email [email protected]. All funds go back into to find out about getting Nature Conservation’s Bush Regeneration team out for woody weed control at your place.