Weeding with a View at the Old Sheep Camp

Sunday 15 September 1 pm to 4 pm

Help in the continuing rehabilitation of the old sheep camp on Majura Ridge – see the saga of its past here.  Yes, there are still horehound plants and other weeds to pull out, but not as many as there once were.

Where: The old sheep camp at the junction of Casuarina Track with the summit trail, click on this map to see the meeting point marked with the red balloon number 6, the access points to Casuarina Track, and the location of the sheep camp.

Allow 30 to 35 minutes to walk there uphill from the car parks. You will be rewarded with great views to the east and west.

For more information see the website.

Spring Bird Walk

Sunday 22nd September, 8 am to 10 am

Where: Meet at Mt Majura nature reserve entrance gate off Tay St & Ian Nicol St, The Fair, North Watson.

Walk with bird enthusiast Peter Miller through grassy woodland to spot, observe, listen to and learn about the amazing variety of birds on Mt Majura. We plan to walk on rough foot tracks, and off-track on uneven ground.

Bring Sturdy shoes, binoculars, camera, Bird ID app or handbook. Gold coin donation for bird list.

To find out more about this walk, and birds on Mt Majura:  www.majura.org
Enquiries about this walk,  FoMMnaturewalks@gmail.com

Reports from Recent Activities

On Monday 1st of July, FoMM hosted an ecology walk and weeding activity for 14 Taiwanese students visiting Canberra for a two-week study tour for their Taiwan based urban landscape & design course. This event was facilitated by Prof JaneLee Li. of Living Streets Canberra and coordinated by Max Pouwer.

With the assistance of translator Ms Laura, the 14 students were fully engaged and showed a keen interest in learning about Mt Majura Nature Park ecology and FoMM’s The Fair project and invasive weed management methods.

On the evening of 17th August Jenni led a spotlight walk.

Here is her report.

The weather cleared at the start of the spotlight walk. The evening was perfect, and moon bright with its own rainbow halo, but sunset was completely greyed out.
After much watching, listening and patience, six adults and two very keen children were entertained by a small and pretty Krefft’s Glider Petaurus notatus with pure white chest and tail tip. The only other living creatures we saw were two small moths fluttering around the tree canopy.
We were back at the carpark by 7pm.

Click on link above to see photos of the glider on Canberra NatureMapr.

Mondays @ The Fair

At 9:30 each Monday morning, a keen group of Friends gather at the park entrance at Tay St & Ian Nicol St in north Watson to progress the rehabilitation of what once was a highly degraded fair ground. See here for a description of The Fair project site and progress over the years since the on-ground work began in 2012.

Now the 10 Ha “The Fair” site and the surrounding endangered grassy woodlands, the “wider Fair”, are entering a new phase with ACT Environment Grant funding and the co-operation of the Office of Nature Conservation (ONC), to develop and implement a management plan to efficiently tackle the worst weeds.  The funding will allow PCS to employ contractors this financial year to treat areas according to the plan protocols. See the details of the grant here.

Volunteers will continue to have a vital role in weeding where contactors cannot – like in wildflower patches, and in mapping the results. The ONC has commenced work on the plan and ecologist Meredith Cosgrove has recently mapped many weeds at the project site.  Newcomers are most welcome to join us on Monday mornings.

And it is the start of the wildflower season and insects are reappearing as the weather warms up.

Biodiversity Conservation and 30 by 30

September is National Biodiversity Month!

30 by 30 is the catch cry for target 3 of the Global Biodiversity Framework which was adopted at the end of 2022.  Australia is a signatory to this international conservation agreement. The Minister for the Environment and Water, the Hon. Tanya Plibersek MP, is a member of the International Steering Committee that will drive the implementation of the 30 by 30 target globally.  Target 3 for 2030 is Conserve 30% of Land, Waters and Seas.

There are 23 targets in all e.g. target 4 is Halt Species Extinction and target 14 is Integrate Biodiversity in Decision-Making at Every Level.

Of course, there are budget implications for increasing biodiversity conservation and much discussion on how to best achieve the targets.  Here are some documents from organisations which seek to foster debate on biodiversity conservation.

From the 30by30.org.au  Report: Protecting Australia’s Nature
From the Wentworth Group:  Blueprint to Repair Australia’s Landscapes
From the Biodiversity Council: 2024 Biodiversity Concerns Report: A survey of community attitudes to nature conservation. Most Australians want the government to do more.
In the ACT: Biodiversity in the State of the Environment Report 2023
So, while there is a lot of heavy reading in these links, encouraging us to think globally, we can also act locally.  Here are some good news stories.
Bluetts Block – you may have seen the ACT government press release on this in an email from Lauren McQueen.  Here is more about Bluetts Block from the Conservation Council ACT Region. Or look on Facebook for the Bluetts Block group.
This ABC news story on native plants stars Jo Lynch, an early FoMM member.
From Greening Australia – Pink Worm Lizards in Restored Grassland at Ginninderry
Australia’s Best Playground – using predominantly local Melbourne native plants.
From The Conversation – Frog Saunas What a great story for frogs!

Art meets ecology at the National Sound and Film Archive, free screening daily 10am to 4pm until 8 September, Ghost Trees