Tullimbah Landcare welcomed the next generation of volunteers – including 11 Albion Park Cub Scouts and three Scout leaders – at a belated National Tree Day celebration.
Organiser Ruth Jenkins said 23 people attended the event, which was held at Elizabeth Brownlee Reserve on August 3 after bad weather postponed planting on Tree Day in July.
“With short notice, this is pretty good we think,” Ruth said.
“Without the help, we’d plant all these trees by ourselves, this is a way that we can be in the community and get them involved.”
Scout leader Sarah Gell said: “There’s a big difference between sitting in school and doing a poster and actually getting out there and being involved.
“This is a way to get the kids engaged and teach them about Landcare.”
Lance Jenkins, Tullimbah Landcare treasurer and long-time Landcare advocate, had help constructing tree guards for the new vegetation.
“You can do your planting and come back to find it nibbled off,” Lance said.
“These guards are essential because of the fauna that comes through here. I’m making these ones because nothing’s going to get through them, even deer.”
Ruth and Lance have lived in the area for more than 40 years and have been involved in Landcare initiatives since 1999.
“If you go straight up the cul-de-sac and go straight ahead, you run into our place, and on the back of that was a creek,” Lance said.
"We started a Landcare group to protect our creek from being piped by the council. We wanted to make it more precious for future generations.”
A Shellharbour City Council representative led the Cub Scouts through the planting process and then they were treated to morning tea and a sausage sizzle.
“These kids growing up now are going to be the next generation that are going to fight for Landcare or join a Landcare group for generations to come,” Ruth said.
“They might grow up and think, 'Oh yeah, I remember that time that we planted those trees.' They might come back every five years. They might just remember the lolly bag.”
Lance pointed out vegetation planted at the site by the group when they first formed.
“Some of our first plantings are those big trees sitting down there,” Lance said.
“The work we are doing today is part of our management plan. Hopefully, if we maintain the site, it'll overcome the weeds and we can get it back to what it was 40 or 50 years ago.
“We've been here 43 years. So we’ve seen quite a bit of difference over that time.”
Tullimbah Landcare group aims to preserve the natural vegetation in their area, focusing on Elizabeth Brownlee Reserve.
“In this reserve, we have the Illawarra dry subtropical rainforest, and it is critically endangered,” Ruth said.
“We also have endangered species here, such as Zieria granulata. People are not aware that it is actually at risk, this vegetation – because of developers and land-clearing.”
Locals wanting to get involved with Tullimbah Landcare are invited to attend working bees at Elizabeth Brownlee Reserve on the fourth Saturday of every month at 9am. For more details, check the group's Facebook page.