Friends of Mount Majura (FoMM) Newsletter January 2012 (pdf)
- Working party – this Sunday, 22 January
- Chemical training course
- Centenary Trail update
- Rabbit program update
- Wildlife poaching on Mt Majura
- FoMM report for the financial year 2010/11
Dear Friends
Welcome to the January 2012 edition of the FoMM newsletter. I hope you enjoyed a great break and will start the year with recharged batteries.
We will have a working party this coming Sunday 22 January to control woody weeds along the drain ditch downhill of the Hackett reservoir. It would be great if you could give a couple of hours of your time to help. We will deal with a range of weeds most of them escapes from nearby gardens such as English Ivy, Japanese Honey suckle, Privet and Nettle tree which arrived there via dumping garden debris or bird droppings. If we are enough volunteers we will also replace some of the plastic guards around the seedlings planted in the paddock with more robust wire mesh guards. A crew of Conservation Volunteer Australia produced them at a working bee on Mt Majura yesterday and they are ready for installation.
Here are the details for the working party:
When Sunday, 22 January 2012, 9 am to 1 pm; morning tea with cake and coffee around 10.30 am;
Where Meet at the Hackett reservoir off Rivett / French Streets, click on this map to view the meeting point;
Wear and bring Sun protection, sturdy shoes, old garden clothing, long sleeves and pants;
Tools and information on the weeds will be provided; come early for an introduction on the safe use of chemicals.
Enquiries Ph 6247 7515 or admin@majura.org (the admin address wasn’t working for a while; it’s fixed now).
Herbicide use training course. The Southern ACT Catchment Group is organising a training course on herbicide use for the weekend 18/19 February 2012 to be held at Westwood Farm near Kambah. FoMM needs more trained volunteers who are qualified to apply herbicide in the nature reserve. Please consider to take part in the course. You will gain accreditation and the skills and knowledge required for applying herbicide safely. The accreditation will enable volunteers to conduct foliar spray treatment such as using a backpack spray to control thistles, Paterson’s Curse, St John’s Wort, horehound, and noxious grass weeds as well as being able to handle undiluted chemicals for mixing. ParkCare working parties that involve the use of herbicide require a trained person on site. The course is paid by the Government and free for parkCare volunteers. Bookings are essential and places are limited. Contact Steve Welch on info@sactcg.org.au or 6296 6400 or 0447 223 396. Further information on the course will then be provided. Please let me know if you are interested in the training.
Centenary trail update. FoMM submitted a comment which you can find by clicking here. The consultation period has been extended to 10 February 2012. Representatives of FoMM and the Mt Ainslie Weeders met on site with Government representatives, CBRE Town planning (Feasibility report) and Anthony Burgess (ground investigation of the proposed route) to discuss the issues raised by the ParkCare groups.
Rabbit control update. The mapping of rabbit warrens has been completed on Mt Majura and is on track on Mt Ainslie. Notices of rabbit control work are placed at nature park entry points and according to my information contractors started control work today. They will work their way from the north of Mt Majura to the south. A preliminary analysis of the recorded warrens reveals mixed results: the number of warrens recorded in some parts of Mt Majura is similar to the number recorded in 2009/2010 however the number of active warrens and entrances appeared reduced. In some parts however such as on the steeper west slope, the number of warrens are down from 154 warrens recorded in January 2010 to 31 recorded in January 2012. We’ll keep you updated on the rabbit front.
Wildlife poaching on Mt Majura. There is increasing evidence of wildlife poaching in the nature reserve. I am concerned that our publications on wildlife and guided walks intended to share the treasures of the nature reserve with the wider public are being abused by poachers. For the time being I propose to communicate observations of rare and threatened species or species that might attract the interest of poachers only to trusted FoMM members and the land manager.
The FoMM annual report for the financial year 20010/11 is available on our website; click here to read the report.
Warm regards
Waltraud
