Adopt a site for Landcare
Published on 18 June 2024
These recent restoration project sites don’t currently have registered Landcare groups so please get in touch if you or someone you know would like to discuss potential Landcare guardianship at either of these sites.
Cockle Creek - Griffen Road, Teralba
In 2020, Council received a grant through the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment to ‘Restore, Regenerate, Revegetate - Riparian habitat in Lake Macquarie’. The grant was used for creek bank stabilisation and the restoration of a riparian corridor at Cockle Creek, Teralba.
In 2021, Council’s Natural Area Projects team planted 31,840 native riparian species across the 6,120 m2 site. Staff from Greater Bank assisted with the planting as part of the ‘Greater Bank 75,000 Trees Campaign’.
Since the planting, Council has maintained and managed weeds at the site. The majority of the revegetated area has flourished with recruitment being observed, after some battles with heavy rains and persistent weedy Paspalum species.
To complete the restoration works, Council is infilling a final section with 900 canopy species under the Australian Government ‘Urban Rivers and Catchments Program’ grant, administered by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). The team have sighted some interesting fauna at the site including Green Tree Frogs, nesting Fairy Wrens and Kingfishers!
Dora Creek - Stingaree Point Drive
In 2021, Council received a three year grant through the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment for ‘Coastal Saltmarsh and Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest Rehabilitation’. The grant funded assisted bush regeneration works to improve the health of two Endangered Ecological Communities at Stingaree Point, Dora Creek.
Council’s Natural Area Project team undertook targeted weed control across the wetlands in three stages. Main weedy offenders were ground asparagus, Norfolk Island hibiscus, lantana, and bridal creeper, with dense buffalo grass encroaching along the edge of the reserve. Since primary treatment of weeds, the resilient saltmarsh species have successfully reclaimed areas and the native vegetation cover of the reserve continues to increase.
Council is now undertaking bush regeneration across the entire 42,500m2 of the site, funded under the Australian Government ‘Urban Rivers and Catchments Program’ grant, administered by DCCEEW.
