Woody Weeds (Follow-up) Working Party – Sunday 19 March, 9am – 12noon
Please give a hand and help remove woody weeds in the nature reserve east of The Fair using the cut & daub method. This working party follows-up extensive work carried out in 2016 to remove English Elm, Briar Rose, Hawthorn and other woody weeds at the northwest corner of Mt Majura nature reserve. English Elms are hard to control due extensive suckering. Follow-up control work is crucial to remove this invasive weed. Give as much of your time as you want. No experience required however novice weeders are requested to come early for an introduction.
Where: Nature park east of The Fair, North Watson; access nature park entrance Tay / Ian Nicol Streets
Bring: Sun protection, sturdy shoes, body-covering clothing; tools will be provided.
Inquiries: contact this email
Click here for more information, including a map of the work site
Suckers of English Elm, Ulmus porcera, on a dug-out root. Suckers develop from root buds. (Photo: Waltraud Pix)
Chemcert training course for volunteers – Saturday 1 April 2017, 8:30am to 4:30pm
Are you able to help FoMM with the spraying of weeds during our working bees? If so, we would love to hear from you. Run by ACT Parks and Conservation Service (PCS) for volunteers involved in herbicide application weed treatment on ACT Government managed land, this training is required by the ACT Government before you can assist. The one day course is paid for by PCS and includes safe use, storage and handling of herbicides. The accreditation lasts for five years. There are 15 positions available. Please email us by COB Thursday 9 March if you are interested!
Where: Parks and Conservation Depot, 500 Cotter Road, Weston Creek
What to bring: a pen and your lunch. All course materials, tea and coffee will be provided.
Other news and events:
National park proposed for Canberra’s Mount Ainslie and Mount Majura recreation area – Canberra Times, 9 February 2017
The ACT government has announced a feasibility study which will look into the proposal to establish a new national park covering Mt Ainslie, Mt Majura, Mulligans Flat and Goorooyaroo reserves, to consolidate and further protect the critically endangered Yellow Box – Red Gum Grassy Woodlands. The North Canberra Community Council has nominated FoMM convenor Jochen Zeil as its representative for the National Park Feasibility Reference Group, so stay tuned.
Photographer captures baby goannas digging their way out of termite mounds on Mt Ainslie – Canberra Times, 25 October 2017
Canberra historian and conservationist Matthew Higgins captured the moment a rare Rosenberg’s monitor poked its head out of a termite mound after hatching on Mt Ainslie.
Invasive Species Council fire ant forum – 21 March 2017, 6.30-7.30pm
Hear US fire ant expert Robert Puckett, who has a clear message for Australians – failure to eradicate the current infestation of fire ants in Queensland will eventually have devastating consequences for Australia. FREE.
Location: ANU Commons Room 1, 26 Barry Drive Canberra
Public consultation on the Eastern Grey Kangaroo: Draft Controlled Native Species Management Plan
The ACT Conservator of Flora and Fauna has released this draft plan for public comment. It does not propose any changes to the goals or overall approach to the management of kangaroos in the ACT as described in the 2010 ACT Kangaroo Management Plan. The timing of the kangaroo culling season, and implementation requirements for accreditation of shooters are also not proposed to change. The draft plan provides updated information on the local research on the impacts of kangaroo grazing on biodiversity conducted since 2010 and amends policies to make reference to the current codes of practice and the Nature Conservation Act 2014. The draft plan is available for public comment here until 24 March 2017.
Nomination of Threatening Process: Loss of Native Hollow-bearing Trees
The Conservation Council ACT Region along with Friends of Grasslands, Australian Native Plant Society Canberra Region, Canberra Ornithologists Group and Field Naturalists Association of Canberra have nominated ‘Loss of Native Hollow-bearing Trees‘ as a threatening process. The Nature Conservation Act 2014 states: ‘”threatening process” means a process that threatens, or may threaten, the survival, abundance or evolutionary development of a native species or ecological community.’ As the explanatory statement says: ‘Once a threatening process has been listed on the key threatening processes list an action plan must be prepared to set out proposals to minimise any effect of the processes on threatened species and ecological communities with targeted management and monitoring.’ Among reasons for seeking the listing is that the loss of hollow-bearing trees is a direct threat to four listed threatened species (species declared threatened under the Nature Conservation Act 2014): Superb Parrot – Polytelis swainsonii (Vulnerable); Swift Parrot – Lathamus discolor (Vulnerable); Brown Treecreeper – Climacteris picumnus (Vulnerable); Glossy Black-Cockatoo – Calyptorhynchus lathami (Vulnerable). The nomination will be considered by the ACT Scientific Committee (formerly the ACT Flora and Fauna Committee).
ACT Conservation Council – Save the dates
- Saturday 1 April (note change of date) 9.30-4.00pm — Being an Effective Voice for the Environment Symposium
- Saturday 3 June 7pm — World Environment Day Dinner
- Friday 21-Saturday 22 July — Bushfire Management Balancing the Risk — a symposium with the National Parks Association ACT, Conservation Council, Parks and Conservation Service and Emergency Services Agency.
