From The President
Dear NRPGer,
That time of year is here again! Our ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING is looming, on Wednesday 28th March, at 8pm, at the RSL Hall on Canning Road, Kalamunda.
The reason we promote it is because it is a rare opportunity to meet each other and swap experiences over a cup of tea, and take stock of how far we've come in a year. Also, are you interested in joining the NRPG committee? Got a bit more time these days?
We'd love to hear from you (preferably on 9454 4828 before the 28th or even on the night) if you'd like to join the team…(But remember, anytime you'd like to attend a committee meeting through the year, just give me a ring first and you would be a most welcome guest.)
At the AGM, we'll explore an interesting conundrum - what is the difference between a Reserve Friends Group and a Catchment Group? How are volunteers on the ground using different models to improve the natural environment for birds, animals, plants and humans? This year, our speakers are LINDA RAYNOR, Catchment officer from Mundaring Shire, and LORETTA BEAN, Kalamunda Shire's Bushcare officer. Come and hear two energetic young professionals who are helping Darling Range residents to make a difference. As a bonus to AGM attendees, we hope to be distributing our first batch of NRPG 'Bushcarer' car stickers on the night. This is the first stage in our plan to raise the profile of NRPG Bushcarers, so come along and grab one for your car!
And finally our committee unanimously feels we should stick with our current name. So NRPG it remains!
We look forward to seeing you at our AGM,
Vicki Laurie NRPG President
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Work Over The Long, Hot - And Dry - Summer…
Many groups have been busy, including Friends of Anthony St. Reserve, in Lesmurdie. Alison McGilvray is the coordinator, a 19-year-old student at Murdoch University studying conservation biology. Her reserve is "a little urban area of bushland, a half-hectare with top and lower storey, not much middle storey cover. 40% is covered by decent bush with weeds like wild oats, oxalis and freesias in winter…We've got about 34 native species which I've identified", says Alison proudly.
Alison started up her Friends group after she began working on another NRPG reserve. "I realised it wasn't too hard to get people involved. In my street, there's about six regulars and a couple of my friends who turn up to busy bees. I've realised how important it is to get local people involved."
Recently, nine volunteers conducted a successful busy bee in Anthony Street Reserve, where they came across 'Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones!' "They were huge!", says Alison, "off a pig or a cow or something. There were small piles, covered in weeds and dirt, so someone must have dumped them! I'd heard there was once a piggery in this area."
Her aim? "To see alot of the weeds removed or sprayed, and I've ordered native plants to put in this winter." Alison can be contacted on 9291 6795.
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PLEASE PLEASE ME, OH YEA…
… by letting me know about your reserve! If you have just formed a group, or are thinking about it, contact me on 9454 4828.
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ALARM over MAIDA VALE RESERVE !!
The Issue: If a management plan is drawn up for a nature reserve, why does the Shire of Kalamunda ignore it?
One of the NRPG's first topical issues this year arose over the placing of a skate ramp facility within a metre of two of prime bushland on the corner of Kalamunda Road and Midland Road.
Maida Vale Reserve is a valuable area of bushland adjoining important community sports facilities. In recent years, the NRPG and others have contributed time and effort to the drawing-up of a Maida Vale Reserve Management Plan. This document is to ensure that any activities happening there will not destroy the natural values of bushland that is disappearing in our shire (especially in Maida Vale).
Good idea. So what happened in reality? The Shire rushed through a plan to put a skate ramp, without informing local residents, or the sporting clubs that use the Maida Vale Reserve, or the NRPG. Yet the shire's own Maida Vale management plan states that its aim is:
"to ensure that increased usage of the active recreational areas will not adversely affect the high conservation values of this important regionally significant reserve."
It also promises to "undertake environmental assessments of all proposals within the reserve." In this case, mere lip service was paid to the whole idea. Now there is a skate ramp, a flimsy fence next to it and an area of burned bushland which, coincidentally, went up in flames a few days after work began.
This decision has undone the good work of the shire's own environmental officers and its ratepayer constituency that spends hundreds of hours preserving local bushland. It all makes you wonder why you bother…Message to the shire? Play by the rules.
If you want to help in Maida Vale Reserve, ring Julia Murphy on 9458 9559
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FOR THE DIARY
Wednesday to Friday, 21st to 23rd March
National Forum - Taking Care of the Bush: Nature Conservation on Private Land. Hosted by the National Trust, an important forum for finding out about ways to conserve your private bushland in perpetuity. Australia's experts in this field are assembled.
Book now, through the National Trust on 9321 6088.
Friday, 30th March
Bush Regeneration - A new Industry for WA. Of real interest to people keen to be involved in professional or community bush regeneration. For info. ring Janice on 9381 1479 or Error! Reference source not found.
Sunday, 1st April
Weeding busy bee at Crumpet Creek Nature Reserve, starting 9am. For further details, ring Margaret on 9293 2283, or meet at the end of Josephine Crescent, Kalamunda.
Sunday, 22nd April
Weed network workshop for Kalamunda residents will cover learning to identify weeds and how to collect them, and mount them for herbarium purposes. The WA Herbarium will have experts on hand, and they will describe their new Weed Network and Florabase. It's at Gooseberry Hill Multipurpose Hall, off Ledger Road, 9-4pm. For details or to enrol, ring Loretta on 9257 9936. Bring lunch, morning tea provided.
Sunday 17th June
Be sure to put this date in your diary!!! Come to our FAMILY FUNGI FORAY for a fascinating walk into the world of our native fungi. Our guide is a world expert in this area, Dr. Neil Bougher, a CSIRO scientist and author of Fungi of Southern Australia.
It's definitely a family event, where we bring along buckets and stout shoes and go collecting (with permission) in Ledger Road Nature Reserve. Neil will tell us what we've found, and we'll round off the 9-to-midday session with a barbecue, so bring your own ingredients. Morning tea will be provided free by the NRPG.
Sunday 26th August
Feel like getting out and lending a hand? Alinta Gas Bushcare Day planned for Kadina Brook Nature Reserve, Gooseberry Hill (on John Farrant Drive) Contact Vicki on 9454 4828.
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KEEPING TRACK
Ever cursed that ranger who came and mowed down your newly-planted seedlings? If you're working in your reserve, how will the shire officers know not to destroy your good work?
Loretta Bean has created some forms for us to fill in, so everyone knows what everyone else is doing. She'll soon be sending them out to reserve coordinators, or you can ring her for a copy on 9257 9936. It's simple, fill it in, shove it in an envelope and send it to: Loretta Bean, c/o Shire of Kalamunda, PO Box 42, Kalamunda 6926
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A Big Thanks
A big thankyou to the Kalamunda Rotary Club, especially John Horwood, for allowing us to take some of the sheoak seedlings they are growing for salt-affected farms. The plants were 'surplus to requirements' and last month, with John's help, our members potted up several hundred seedlings for selective use in our reserves. Want any to plant this winter? Ring Darryl McCarthy on 9291 9892.
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SUBSCRIPTIONS
Annual subs can be paid for at the AGM. See Margaret Fowler.
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Useful Contact Numbers
Loretta Bean,
Bushcare Coordinator, Kalamunda Shire
Tel. 9257 9936
Fax. 9257 9991
PO Box 42, Kalamunda 6926
John Nicolson
Environmental Officer
Shire of Kalamunda
9257 9936 or 0418 928 031
Paul Zuvela,
Dieback Project Coordinator
Shire of Kalamunda
Tel. 9257 9999
Vicki Laurie
President NRPG
Tel. 9454 4828
Fax. 9454 4866
60 John Farrant Drive, Gooseberry Hill 6076
Bush Forever Program (formerly Bushplan)
For details: Ministry for Planning
Tel. 9264 7777
Ecoplan
Margo O'Byrne or Bridget Hyder-Griffiths
9222 7052
Urban Bushland Council
Haakon Nielssen,
Bushcare Support Officer
Tel. 9420 7207
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