Volunteers celebrate progress in restoring local habitat

A GROUP of volunteers working to restore Murrk Ngubitj Yarram Yaluk, formerly the Bellarine Basin, has marked one year since its formation.

Supported by the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation in partnership with Barwon Water, the Friends of Murrk Ngubitj Yarram Yaluk meet monthly at the reserve, located at the corner of Grubb and Swan Bay roads, to help protect and regenerate the biodiversity of the site.

The volunteer group is managed by the Bellarine Catchment Network (BCN) and undertakes a variety of activities at the site each month, including weed management, flora surveys and pest control and enjoys educational opportunities to learn more about the plant species within the reserve.

Approximately 30 volunteers attended the birthday celebration, held on Wednesday last week, gathering at the reserve for cupcakes, morning tea and to continue their efforts to restore the local habitat for the region’s wildlife.

Naomi Wells, BCN’s coastal and education program leader, said the group had already achieved some exciting results over its first year.

“We have seen the most amazing regeneration of Indigenous species coming up, so species that we didn’t know were there.

“I think everyone really believes in the power of bush regeneration and what they’re doing.

“When we first started working [at the reserve], it was just mulch…but now we’re seeing some of the local gum trees, about two metres high already, heaps of different shrubs and ground covers – it’s happening quite quickly.”

Just last month, the group believes it may have found, within the reserve, a native flowering shrub uncommon to the Bellarine Peninsula.

“To find it in this site is really exciting,” Ms Wells said.

“If you think back about this site, it was all pines and nothing really grew underneath them.

“We’ve just shown how just taking away the pines and weeding and weeding and weeding and weeding, these Indigenous plants have seeds that are just waiting to pop up.

“The impact of weeding goes beyond just getting rid of weeds. It’s about bringing all those species back because we don’t have much bushland on the Bellarine left.”

The project is part of a broader program, supported by the Victorian government through its Nature Fund, to create 30-hectares of environmental and public open space at Murrk Ngubitj Yarram Yaluk, which means ‘head waters of continuous flowing river’ in Wadawurrung language.

At present, the reserve is only open during set times to the volunteers working to restore the site, however it is hoped Murrk Ngubitj Yarram Yaluk will open to the public later this year.

For more information on the Friends of Murrk Ngubitj Yarram Yaluk, or to join the group’s bush regeneration work, head to bgevc.com, or email [email protected]