Habitat Brisbane - community bushcare

>>STEPHANIE FORD: I've been bushcare volunteering here at Arnwood Place, and I am probably most proud that we still have small birds on the site.

What inspired me to become involved with bushcare was walking around this site, quite a few times with my husband and we were birdwatchers and we'd come down and we would try to see what birds we could see closest to our home.

It's one thing to see birds in a national park, but if you go to the piece of bush nearest to your home and try to see what the best thing, the best bird you can see there, um that's quite interesting.

But there are certainly moments that are like milestones...like this little area here for example used to be all covered in glycine and we cleared all that weed and planted natives and now they are getting a good height on them.

It's just beautiful as well to have the creek in the background while you are working. Ducks are there, and moorhens and there are a lot of turtles in this creek, particularly in summer you notice them.

Also, when we are working, we plant a lot of vegetation on the banks to try and improve water quality and we spend a bit of time removing garbage from the banks as well. So every time I see a little native plant that is coming up by itself and I free it up and give it some space to grow, um I know I'm making a difference and that is just so satisfying.

[end screen] Find out how to get involved by searching 'habitat' at brisbane.qld.gov.au.

>> MIKE FOX: I started this group with the support of Habitat Brisbane back in 2006 in the middle of the drought.

And it's just a place where I find it's peaceful.

The other thing I love doing is just finding what's living here.

I've identified 52 bird species on the mountain, 48 butterfly species, 11 solitary native bee species.

So there are lots of things...I'm always finding something new...always learning something new.

And I regenerate my energy by just coming out in the bush.

When we came walking, we'd always come around here.

So you can look out to Stradbroke Island, Mount Petrie, Mount Cotton.

I can now come and sit at Jude's favourite spot, and that's part of the reason I keep doing this.

She actively supported me in this for years. And...so I keep it up.

[end screen] Find out how to get involved by searching 'habitat' at brisbane.qld.gov.au.

>> MIKE FOX:  One of the things we have been doing is building habitat tripods. 

Just using some of the fallen timber and making a tripod. 

And then growing something like this dusky coral pea and shrubs up around it. 

The main logic behind this, and why we started doing this, is providing habitat for fairy-wrens. 

As we clean up lantana and clear some of the scrubby, untidy bush, we are getting rid of safe places for fairy-wrens. 

So the thinking is to create these alternative spaces. 

The other thing this does is also as we get more and more species growing up through it and around it, we get more insects.  

And insects are what the fairy-wrens want to eat. 

So, we are actually trying to regenerate the forest. 

[end screen] Find out how to get involved by searching ‘habitat’ at brisbane.qld.gov.au. 

>> MIKE FOX: So at the moment we’ve got a koala drinker project underway to see if providing water for koalas will make a difference on the mountain.  

This photo came in last night from the cameras that monitor it, and there is a koala climbing up the tree past the drinker.  

So we have got kolas using the drinkers, brush-tailed possums using the drinkers, brush-tails with babies, koalas with babies, friarbirds, king parrots, fairy-wrens, you name it.  

Everyone is using those water sources.  

So it’s really…now we are looking at what we can do to make it long term.  

Sort of 10 years, 20 years. 

[end screen] Find out how to get involved by searching ‘habitat’ at brisbane.qld.gov.au. 

>> NAT COSTANZO: I actually took on this Habitat Brisbane group with two of my really close girlfriends.

We did it as a way to connect with people in the community, rather than revegetation.

So our focus has always been on having fun.

And when we do our planning sessions once a month, it's usually done you know over dinner and a wine, or lunch and a wine, and so it's a really nice way for us to catch up while doing something meaningful.

I'm most proud that we've provided an experience that people come back to.

So every working bee about 10-20 people come and help out and most of them are return visits and so we have kind of built a bit of a community.

We all know each other and it's really rewarding because you just do a little bit.

Like what we've done today is weed the bank behind me and that was all panic grass and so we've removed that and now you can see that everyone is just planting lomandras.

So you just do a little tiny bit at a time and it feels really good to help wildlife come back to this beautiful spot.

And it is a bit selfish because I walk past here every day.

So being able to see the work that we are doing, and watch the plants grow...I feel like they are my little babies. It is really nice.

[end screen] Find out how to get involved by searching 'habitat' at brisbane.qld.gov.au.

My name is Rob Lucas. I am the team leader of the Benelong Bushcare Group.

Benelong was formed in 1990 by local residents who wanted to protect and conserve a small fragmented part of bushland in Kedron.

As a child growing up on a farm, I was always passionate about nature and its conservation.

Benelong has given me the opportunity to follow that passion and contribute to my local community.

Doing local bushcare is a great opportunity to get together with friends. It's very good for your personal wellbeing, especially your physical and mental health. It's fantastic, getting exercise in amongst nature.

At Benelong, we do organic bushcare. We don't use chemicals. All the weeds we remove manually. We feel like that's good for the local wildlife and for the plants.

In the past 30 years, there would have been hundreds of people who volunteered in this area and hopefully they come back and see the fruits of their labour.

>> ANNEMARIE WHITE: When I moved to New Farm 18 years ago, it was a big metropolis. I had moved from the country and I had discovered this oasis. And so every week, almost in the past 18 years, I come to the forest for some serenity. In Japan, they call it 'forest bathing'. Here I just call it 'Aussie bush serenity'. And being able to sit on my log, and just take in the peace, listen to the birds...it really refreshes me.

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But instead of just enjoying the bush, I thought maybe I could help 'keep' the bush. And I saw a sign that advertised they needed helpers, so I signed up, and now I come every month and plant, weed, or regenerate.

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Every time I come, I visit my little babies...just to make sure they are still going okay.

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You would never believe that we are in the middle of the city, here in this oasis.

>> DIANNE: Melaleuca Park Bushcare Group was formed in 1988 to replant a very degraded piece of land which is formerly a nightsoil tip. We wanted to create a sustainable wildlife habitat and make a pleasant place for locals to take nature walks and observe the flora and fauna. Three years later, the Habitat Brisbane program began and we became part of that scheme.

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During the 25 years, I was involved with the group, we planted many thousands of native trees, shrubs, and grasses with the assistance of local school children, Scouts, Rotary, the unemployed etc.

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We held annual Australia Day barbecue breakfasts, inviting locals to join us on the day. These were happy times which helped us to showcase our achievements by taking large groups of people on tours of the park.

A number of bird nesting boxes were installed in various locations, but we discovered that there were Squirrel Gliders in the park who loved the nesting boxes more than the birds. Some were even taken over by native bees. We also installed bat boxes and were thrilled to see them occupied almost immediately by Gould's wattled microbats.

It is very satisfying to know that you can make a real difference in the preservation and restoration of wildlife habitat. It is a great way to do something worthwhile in your local area.