A mob of Eastern Grey Kangaroo in the nature reserve east of The Fair (August 2013, Canberra Nature Map).
In 2013, Friends of Mount Majura began work to rehabilitate the 10ha degraded grassy woodland remnant in the Mount Majura nature reserve east of The Fair, a medium dense residential estate in North Watson.
Volunteers replaced woody weeds with local native trees and shrubs, carried out work to improve soil conditions such as compaction and erosion, and controlled vast amounts of herbaceous weeds using methods such as mulching, spraying selective herbicide, manual removal, and – perhaps most importantly – direct seeding of native grasses to provide competition for the weeds present in the soil seed bank.
Ten years of hard work seemed to pay off as reported in Progress at The Fair.
However, in the past two years, following the drought in 2025, overgrazing took a heavy toll: the native grass cover disappeared and weeds grow once again germinating from the soil seed bank.
Introducing Seeding Nodes.
Seeding node in the nature reserve east of The Fair; view towards north from the west (May 2026)
With the help of Molonglo Conservation Group and federal funding, Friends of Mount Majura implemented small 10mx20m fence-protected Seeding Nodes at various parts of Mount Majura nature reserve.
Three of the Seeding nodes can be visited in the reserve east of The Fair; they are located on the lower slope with deep soil east of the nature reserve entry at the Tay Street and Ian Nicol Street intersection, and further uphill on the shallow soils.
The stark difference between the native grass cover of three fence-protected Seed Nodes and overgrazed surrounds shows that the management of large herbivore overgrazing is probably the most important tool for protecting and rehabilitating grassy woodland remnants in the fragmented landscapes of the Canberra Nature Park reserves.
Regrowth of Paterson’s Curse in the nature reserve east of The Fair, previously treated with herbicide and by manual removal of herbaceous weeds (Canberra Nature Map)
Native grass, if allowed to grow, has a remarkable resilience, thriving in drought and heatwaves such as those of the 2025/25 summer. It suppresses the germination and growth of weeds including of St John’s Wort, a significant transformer weed that benefits from opening the landscape either by fire (see this analysis) or by overgrazing.
And – native grasses are beautiful.
Waltraud Pix
June 2026
Kangaroo Grass is one of the native grass species that Friends of Mount Majura used to rehabilitate the 10ha degraded grassy woodland east of the Fair in North Watson. If allowed to grow, Kangaroo Grass out-competes weeds.
Photographs of the three seeding nodes in the nature reserve east of The Fair taken from the east side of the fenced plots in May 2026
Upper Slope
View to the north
View to the south
Mid Slope
View to the north
View to the south
Lower Slope
View to the north
View to the south
Photographs on this page by Waltraud Pix
