Welcome to the July 2016 edition of the FoMM newsletter. National Tree Day is on this month! To celebrate, FoMM will be holding two special events: a tree walk on the 24th where you can learn more about the trees on Mt Majura, and a planting party at The Fair on the 31st. Everyone is welcome! A big thank you to the ACT Government’s Woodland Restoration Program which is paying for the plants and the digging of the holes beforehand, and to Greening Australia for growing the seedlings.
See you on the mountain.
Jo Lynch
FoMM Secretary
FoMM activities and news:
National Tree Day 2016 planting party – Sunday 31 July 2016, 1pm to 4pm
Join FoMM to celebrate National Tree Day 2016 with the planting of local trees, shrubs and flowering ground-cover plants. This will be our fourth and final National Tree Day community planting in the nature park behind (east of) “The Fair”. Planting holes have been dug prior to the event and water delivered so all we need are volunteers to get the seedlings into the ground. Enjoy warm-up drinks and Tim Tams! Please come early for a demonstration on how to plant.
Location: Mount Majura nature reserve behind (east of) The Fair in North Watson.
What to wear: Garden gloves, appropriate clothing and foot wear, wrap up warmly.
What to bring: Bucket, trowel or small mattock if you have one; please label items with your phone number so that we can reunite any left-behinds with the owner.
Enquiries: to this email or Ph. 6247 7517. Contact number on the day: Ph. 0435 357 172
Click here for more information.
Two volunteers at a previous National Tree Day planting party (W. Pix)
Trees of Mount Majura Walk – Sunday 24 July 2016, 2pm-4pm
Enjoy a winter walk through Mount Majura’s beautiful woodlands and forests. Learn to identify local trees, see where they occur and find out how they survive fire and drought. Local ecologist Michael Doherty will lead this medium grade informative walk along the Casuarina Trail. Walk up to the snow gums then back down to the Black Cypress forest.
Where: Meet at Nature Reserve car park, Mackenzie St near Grayson St, Hackett.
Bring: Sturdy shoes, water, warm clothes, and a gold coin donation for a tree guide.
No bookings required.
Enquiries: this email or Ph. 0408 429 214
Scribbly gum (Eucalyptus rossii). (W. Pix)
Maintenance of Stromlo Depot shadehouse – volunteer required
The shadehouse at the Parks and Conservation Service (PCS) Stromlo Depot has a number of examples of weeds and natives that are kept for the Bush Friendly Garden display at Floriade and for Weeds Officers to use as display examples at talks etc. They are struggling to find the time to keep the plants up to the standard they should be in for presentation. Philip Selmes, ParkCare and Volunteer Coordinator, is asking if anyone would like to drop into Stromlo for an hour a week to become the caretaker of the shadehouse. Beyond maintaining the shadehouse plants, the collection of weeds that are missing, or for replacements, would be part of the duties. If anyone is interested please email Philip here. Or if you know anyone that may be interested, please pass this message on.
Other items of interest:
AABR FORUM: NSW Launch of the National Standards for the Practice of Ecological in Australia – Thursday, 21 July 2016, 9am to 4:30pm
‘Experience counts – New National Restoration Standards reflect 30 years of repairing Australian Nature’. Register here. Hear presentations about some of the most impressive terrestrial and marine restoration projects in urban and rural Vic, NSW, Qld and SA – as well as the latest on seed production and genetics for broadscale restoration in fragmented landscapes. Download flyer here.
Location: Teachers Federation Conference Centre, 37 Reservoir St, Surry Hills
Download program here.
State of the World’s Plants
The first report has been released on the State of the World’s Plants – it provides a baseline assessment of current knowledge on the diversity of plants globally and the threats plants are facing. The report indicates that an estimated 391,000 species of vascular plants are known to science, and Australia, Brazil and China are the top three source countries for the identification of new species of vascular plants! It also addresses thirteen questions about our current knowledge and illustrates the incredible amount of information that is already available about the world’s plants but also the significant knowledge gaps. The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) provides the most comprehensive and regularly updated listing of scientific names for vascular plants – IPNI has been produced through collaboration between the Australian National Herbarium, Harvard University and the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Download the report here.
