Staff reporters
Two groups in our area have netted $500,000 for local Landcare projects as a series of large-scale community projects to receive more than $8 million for restoring important bush habitats announced by NSW environment minister Robyn Parker.
Ballina Coast Care will receive $238,923 to undertake restoration at five East Ballina headland and wetland sites.
Big Scrub Rainforest Landcare Group will get $249,900 towards rehabilitating and restoring endangered lowland subtropical rainforest.
In addition, nearby group Jiggi Catchment Landcare Inc will be funded to rehabilitate high-conservation-value habitats and corridors to the tune of $250,000.
In announcing the grants Ms Parker said, ‘In building the capacity of communities and organisations to protect, restore and enhance their environment, we acknowledge the importance of the role played by strong local community organisations in working with us on environmental solutions’.
The Ballina project will involve contractors supported by volunteers removing and controlling ground asparagus (A. aethiopicus), a particularly pernicious invasive weed in wetland areas, on five biodiversity-rich endangered ecological community sites.
The ambitious Big Scrub project includes regenerating and improving the health and ecological connectivity of 640 hectares of critically endangered lowland rainforest of subtropical Australia, which is habitat for 43 species listed as threatened under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and is home to approximately 70 threatened species under the NSW Threatened Species Act.
The group will also work on engaging the local community through plantings and open days.
The Jiggi project will protect and enhance habitat for threatened species and expand regional corridors for threatened species including the Rose-Crowned Fruit Dove, and strengthening species migration pathways.