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\u201cEveryone talks these days about people’s mental health and just getting it in the in the bushes is a good for the way people feel like they\u2019re helping.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut our primary aim is to is to try and restore the coastal shrubland to something that looks like what it once did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Parry said earlier weeding activities had noticeable impacts on areas\u2019 appearance and how local wildlife could interact with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does make a big difference to the way areas appear.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe area goes from being a closed area that you can barely walk through to an open area.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven’t got the information other than anecdotes on this, but we suspect that there’s a lot of birds like wrens that will do a lot better where they’ve got areas open, areas where they can feed and still plenty of areas that they can disappear and hide.\u201d<\/p>\n
SBEA has received two grants from the state government in the past year, for coastal restoration near Swan bay through removal of woody weeds and a wider Queenscliffe coastal weed removal program.<\/p>\n
The programs have involved partnerships with the Borough of Queenscliffe and Bellarine Catchment Network and dated back several years.<\/p>\n
Initiatives have included experimenting with different removal methods to maximise effectiveness and efficiency, establishment of a co-ordination committee, and increasing frequency and volunteer numbers for weeding events.<\/p>\n
The grants are part of the state government\u2019s Coastcare program, which Environment Minister Ingrid Stitt said would \u201chelp our community groups drive positive change across our state\u2019s precious coastal and marine areas\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BELLARINE environmental volunteers are using their phones to map and track weed species in sensitive habitats to bolster conservation efforts in partnership with management authorities. Swan Bay Environment Association (SBEA) is using web-based mapping software to monitor areas that have been treated by its members and the methods used to remove invasive plants. The project […]<\/p>\n