Volunteers

Does size matter? Victoria Park Nature Reserve is a small fragment of the once mighty Big Scrub sub-tropical rainforest. Reflecting on 40 years of monitoring, Tein McDonald highlights the significant contributions to the understanding of rainforest succession that this reserve has made. Monitoring of Camphor laurel removal using species composition surveys and photopoints, clearly demonstrates [...]

Rainforest restoration pioneers, Big Scrub Landcare, are again at the forefront of restoration ecology investigating solutions to the problem of genetic inbreeding in the hundreds of thousands of Big Scrub plantings. With the long term viability of the Big Scrub and associated investment at stake, they have developed a strategy to test for genetic diversity, [...]

Urban creeks in the City of Onkaparinga hold some of the last remnants of bushland within the city as well as containing valuable public recreational space. The ‘Creek Heroes’ project informed and activated the community to care for the creeks by crafting clever ‘heroes and bullies’, listening to the residents and providing opportunities to experience [...]

Restoring native vegetation cover on an island dominated by Kikuyu and Coastal Morning Glory poses unique challenges, especially when the island provides critical seabird breeding habitat. The Five Islands Nature Reserve is a culturally significant site and the success of the restoration project has been due to the project bringing together the Illawarra Local Aboriginal [...]

The Popes Glen Bushcare Group utilise strong monitoring regimes and the process of adaptive management to inform the treatment of Willows, Privet, Pine trees and Ranunculus groundcover. By careful observation of the impact of their works they have become adept at reinforcing positive outcomes and considering the recovery trajectory of the site to ensure the [...]

Stormwater flows along the first kilometre of urban streams requires energy and nutrient loads to be managed effectively to ensure the downstream integrity of the riparian systems can be maintained. The Popes Glen Bushcare Group, with the support of the Blue Mountains Council have explored and implemented a variety of highly successful soft-engineering strategies to [...]

Ziggy Marzinelli shares the world of underwater kelp forest recovery. A 70km aquatic restoration project was designed to reinstate Sydney’s Phyllospora comosa - Crayweed forests, a valuable recreational fishing asset as well as a key component of the kelp forest underwater ecosystem. Ziggy’s project successfully reintroduced the missing ecosystem component. In doing so he reinstated [...]

In 1926 the TGB Osborn Reserve on Koonamore Station was established by fencing 4km2 of the property to exclude sheep and rabbits, it is one of the earliest fencing projects in the world. Permanent photopoints and quadrats were established to monitor the changes. This project highlights the resilience of the natural landscape once threats are [...]

In pursuing a personal passion to restore the Caledonian Forests of Scotland, Alan Watson Featherstone developed an understanding of the key ecological principles needed to guide positive trophic cascades. By fencing remnant vegetation to reduce herbivory, ecological processes were reinstated to do the hard work of recovery. Rewilding projects are underway to complete ecosystem functionality. [...]

The process of facilitating the regeneration of a heavily weed infested, high profile coastal site at Norah Head Lighthouse Reserve is outlined by Scott Meier. Professional bush regenerators supported volunteers in tackling Bitou Bush, Lantana and a host of other introduced plant species. After three years there has been greater than 90% reduction in weed [...]