The Landcare-Bushcare site tour held on 24 March 2017 provided Bushcare, Landcare and Rivercare

volunteers from groups around the shire with an opportunity to visit bushland and wetland

rehabilitation sites in the Bundanoon-Penrose area to see the sites where other groups are working

and hear about their challenges and achievements. In addition to the Bushcare team and Bushcare

coordinator, 38 volunteers from 12 groups participated.

Report on the Wingecarribee Bushcare site tour

Bundanoon-Penrose Cluster

Penrose Swamps Conservation Group convenor Katherine Thompson introduced tour participants to the work that PSCG

have undertaken in the unique upland peat swamps, particularly Stingray Swamp and Hanging Rock Swamp, where they

have felled over 20,000 pine wildlings in the eucalypt woodland buffer zones between the swamps and pine plantations.

The group has around 15 volunteers who hold monthly working bees and also assist the Forestry Corporation of NSW with

mapping and research on the rare and vulnerable Eucalyptus aquatica trees that grow in the swamps.

Leaver Park Bushcare Group convenor Christine Miller introduced tour participants to Leaver Park, which is situated on

the western outskirts of Bundanoon and adjoins the upper reaches of Paddy’s River. The group, established in November

2016, is one of the Shire’s newest and is enthusiastic about the protection and enhancement of Leaver Park, which was a

popular picnic and swimming spot in the 1930s. Leaver Park bushland reserve contains very diverse vegetation, including a

mature stand of the endangered Eucalyptus macarthurii along the river. The species list for the reserve includes 9 tree

species, 39 shrub species, 34 species of grasses/forbs/orchids, 12 species of ferns, 13 species of wetland plants and 4

species of vines. The group holds monthly working bees with a focus on weed control.

Reedy Creek Rivercare group convenors John and Marilyn Evers introduced the tour group to the Reedy Creek site, a

drainage reserve/ wetland site which was revegetated as an environmental offset linking two patches of remnant forest

and a chain of ponds when the Greason’s Road sub-division was developed in 2005-06. One of the shire’s newest

groups, Reedy Creek Rivercare is comprised of local residents who hold monthly working bees to control weeds, remove

rubbish and generally care for the reserve. The loop track through the reserve is popular with walkers and provides good

access for the volunteers for site maintenance activities.

Co-convenor of Currabunda Wetland Bushcare group, Alan Hyman, introduced the tour group to the work the Currabanda

group had undertaken from Bundanoon Oval, through Jordans Crossing and down to the Currabunda wetlands over their

twelve years of operation. The group undertakes fortnightly working bees controlling weeds, planting, mulching and

educating the local community on the habitat values of this wildlife corridor running through the middle of Bundanoon.

Sandy Berry from the Glow Worm Glen Track Bushcare group led the tour group for a walk along the Unmade Governor’s

Road walking track and along the newly extended boardwalk to show off the beautiful wetland vegetation which the group

has been caring for over the last five years as an extension to their work along the Glow Worm Glen track.

Co-convenor of Glow Worm Glen Track Bushcare group Denise Turner introduced the tour group to the Glow Worm Glen

track leading from William Street Bundanoon down a steep decent to a walker’s entry point into Morton National Park where

the group has been active for the last nine years, controlling weeds and encouraging the regeneration of the native

vegetation community which transitions from critically endangered Robertson Basalt Forest at the top through to a

Hawkesbury Sandstone vegetation community at the bottom of the track.