Building Bush Regen Skills

Community action learning for wins against weeds

Capacity building - LEP23_026_LLC

The issue

A survey of Landcare groups in the MidCoast Local Government Area conducted by MidCoast 2 Tops Landcare Connection identified Weeds, Lack of Skills/Knowledge and Lack of Volunteers as the equal three most pressing issues in the region.

Weed infestation is a perennial problem and a key threat to biodiversity in our coastal catchments. Landholders often feel overwhelmed by weedy riparian areas – some don’t know where to start, and some have been discouraged by poor results from ad-hoc treatments.

While some local groups have successfully enacted a mutual aid working bee model, others struggle to convince members to help out on their peers’ properties.

The solution

Mid Coast 2 Tops Landcare invested in community owned bush regeneration gear with funding from the Private Land Conservation Matters education program, with a view to empowering locals to build their bush regeneration skills through action learning field days.

The model was trialled in June 2025, with a field day at the Great Lakes Paddocks Winery at Wootton, facilitated by Private Land Conservation Officer Isabelle Strachan and Local Landcare Coordinator Joël Dunn, with support from MidCoast Council with Natural Systems staff in attendance and the provision of herbicide.

The group spent a hands-on morning looking at strategy, goal-setting, plant ID and weeding techniques before tooling up for an all-in working bee by the Coolongolook River.

The impact

The field day was well attended by both Wootton locals and folks from around the traps, from Forster to Pindimar. Participants did a fantastic job on Narrow-Leaf Privet and other weeds on the banks of the Coolongolook. We had lots of glowing feedback on how much participants learnt in a half day field day.

We now have the bush regen toolkits as a long-term community asset that can also be loaned to groups, and we have confirmed that we can easily roll out the action-learning bush regen field day model in other locations.

With a bit of staff time and some low budget self-catering the only costs, this is a very efficient model to help fulfill a need our local groups have expressed.

Author: Joel Dunn