Title: Weed removal along the Great Southern Rail Trail.
[Great Southern Star, 17/11/2009, Page: 36] Committee members, volunteers and paid professionals have been working together to remove weeds such as blackberries, ragwort and pine trees along the Great Southern Rail Trail. The management committee of the Great Southern Rail Trail plan and coordinate maintenance along the trail, regularly working in a hands-on role themselves. Friends of Rail Trail play an essential role assisting with activities such as tree planting, however many tasks simply cannot be done by these volunteers.
The South Gippsland Shire Council provides a parcel of funding for the committee of management, which is spent on materials such as gravel and signs, and on professional services such as tree felling, slashing and toilet cleaning. However when these jobs cost more than the maintenance budget allows, the management committee must look elsewhere for assistance. The Bush Guardians program is a small grants program for committee-based projects. The program aims to protect threatened flora and fauna from the threats of weeds and pests on sections of public land. The program is funded and co-ordinated by the Department of Sustainability and Environment. The Bush Guardian program follows the premise that authorities cannot manage the threat of weeds and pests alone and in isolation from the comntnunity. Bush Guardian grants provide assistance for community-based committees of management who contribute to the management of large sections of Victoria's coastal. forest and other public land reserves, such as rail trails.
The Committee of Management for the Great Southern Rail Trail were suecessful in their application for a Bush Guardian grant. They developed a plan to remove persistent weeds in high priority sites, particularly where indigenous plant species have been fully removed from farmland either side of the rail trail corridor. The most recent Bush Guardian project has been the removal of pine trees between Fish Creek and Shields Road. Pine trees are classed as an Environmental weed, which means that pines threaten the value of natural ecosystems, invading native plant communities and out-competing native plants. Specifically, pine trees reduce soil fertility, produce a dense leaf litter and shade out other species. Other weeds are classed as agricultural, such as Cape Weed, or noxious, such as Blackberries and Ragwort. The management committee has employed a professional to remove the pine trees, however Friends of the Rail Trail have volunteered their time to flag down cyclists, walkers and horse riders when it has been necessary to briefly close the track. These volunteers have saved the Committee of Management a great deal of money, which means that they will be able to employ the tree feller for a longer period of time, and thus remove more pine trees with this portion of the grant funds. Who could guess that spending some time on the Great Southern Rail Trail could be part of a significant community effort for the environment?
Contact the Environment Officer at the South Gippsland Shire Council for further information about weeds of Gippsland, or pick up a copy of "Common Weeds of Gippsland: South Gippsland Shire", produced by the Department of Primary Industries. If you would like to help the committee of management, you can join the Friends of the Great Southern Rail Trail by contacting railtrailfriends@dcsi.nct.au or calling 5662 2607.
Article: WeedsNews207 (permalink) Categories: :WeedsNews:weed control, :WeedsNews:railways Date: 27 November 2009; 10:49:26 AM AEDT