NEWS DESK
Talking about weeds
Helping at the grassy bowl
VOLUNTEERS from Sunshine Reserve conservation group and Balcombe Estuary Reserves Group have been spreading the word about the need to control weeds. The groups set up a Saturday morning stall at Mount Martha shops to show what weeds can look like and talk to passersby about the dangers they pose to the peninsula’s bushland areas. With an estimated 30 per cent of the Mornington Peninsula’s indigenous vegetation remaining, privately owned bushland, national parks and Mornington Peninsula Shire Council-owned parks and reserves are vital to the survival of native flora and fauna. One wildlife corridor is Sunshine Reserve in Mount Martha, which faces challenges from many fronts, including residential and commercial development, agriculture, pollution, climate change and weeds. Volunteer Angie Fly said people unknowingly planted encroaching or environmental weeds in their gardens, not realising the impact on nearby bushland. The weeds spread into reserves and took over, stymying growth of the remnant vegetation and impacting the ecosystem. “The peninsula is unfortunately riddled with these weeds. We’ve all seen the purple flowers of milkwort or polygala as we drive along the coast. Similarly, the yellow flowers of boneseed (monilifera) pop up along waterways and among indigenous vegetation throughout spring,” she said. “Agapanthus line our driveways, vinca cover our open spaces, and pittosporum grow
Weed talk: Volunteers Kath Smalley, Pia Spreen and Jessica Schubert-Hoban used a stall at Mount Martha to spread the word about weeds, including the invasive boneseed (inset). Mornington Peninsula Shire Council supported the event and donated 50 native trees and shrubs. Pictures: Supplied
vigorously in our gardens with their evergreen leaves. These plants are hardy and grow well in the sandy soil of our backyards, but they flourish in our special reserves too.” The BERG committee and volunteers at Sunshine Reserve spend hours at working bees pulling out weeds and replanting indigenous species to shift the ecosystem back into balance but is seeking more members to join them and other friends groups across the peninsula. “Prevention is, however, better than the cure. All of us can chip in by considering the plants in our gardens and, where possible, removing the
weeds that are spreading into our community reserves and wildlife corridors,” Fly said. Residents who live in a property that backs onto a reserve can check out the list of weeds in the Mornington Peninsula Environmental and Noxious Weeds Guide, available on the Mornington Peninsula Shire website. Anyone who spots weeds can pull them out and replace with hardy, non-spreading indigenous plants. For further information about Sunshine Reserve visit sunshinereserve.com.au Liz Bell
MEMBERS of the Blairgowrie Friends of Mornington Peninsula National Park group have started a three-year project to replace weeds with native grasses and shrubs in an area known as the Koonya Grassy Bowl. The group has been given a $22,000 Melbourne Water Landcare grant to improve the environmental health and biodiversity of the bowl at the Koonya ocean beach end of Hughes Road, Blairgowrie. Friends group secretary Norm O’Bryan said the project was supported and supervised by Parks Victoria and auspiced by Victorian Landcare. “Work has commenced on weeding sections of the bowl in order to create space for native grasses, shrubs and trees,” he said. “In autumn 2024 the group will spread locally sourced seeds of native grasses and plants to improve the habitat for native animals and birds, some of which are rare or threatened species.” O’Bryan said group members hoped local residents and visitors to the Koonya section of the national park would benefit from their work “and that local people can get involved with us in our activities to protect the environment”. He said Rosebud Secondary College students were participating in the project as part of their curriculum. Anyone who would like to volunteer to help can go to the group’s Facebook page, Blairgowrie Friends of Mornington Peninsula National Park, facebook.com/profile. php?id=100087339472443 or email blairgowrieMPNPvolunteers@gmail.com The next working bees (meet at Koonya Ocean Beach lower car park) are: 9am Sunday 12 November; 9am Monday 27 November; 9.30am Saturday 2 December; and 9.30am Saturday 9 December.
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Southern Peninsula News
15 November 2023
