Winter Weed Blitz - Nail Can Hill Flora and Fauna Reserve

Invasive plant species - community working bees

Capacity building - LEP_23-019_LLC05

The issue

The Winter Weed Blitz on Nail Can Hill is a community-driven initiative aimed at restoring native Box-gum woodland by removing invasive plant species and garden escapees. It has been making real progress since it started back in 2017.

Friends of Nail Can Hill volunteers and AlburyCity Council crew meet every Thursday afternoon throughout June and July and tackle a range of environmental weeds threatening the biodiversity of this iconic local reserve.

The solution

Over nine sessions including a weekend launch event, the 2024 working bees covered 38 hectares with each week focusing on a different part of the reserve. 12 Volunteers contributed 95 hours of Inkind labour which equates to $3,800.

Albury City Council provides the tools, weedicide, site safety and direction and removes the organic waste. The volunteers provide the people-power, promotion and enthusiasm. The teams prefer manual control methods like cutting and pasting, chipping, pulling, hand-saws, mattocks and shovels. These methods reduce the site disturbance and ensure only weed species are removed. New volunteers are warmly welcomed and quickly inducted into the joys of freeing native plants from being smothered by garden escapees and other weeds.

Target species include: privet, topped lavender, broome, olives, pittosporum, cotoneaster, strawberry tree, succulents, cactus, hawthorn, agapanthus, cootamundra wattle, freesias, watsonia and arum lily. Species that require chemical spraying like bridal-creeper, periwinkle and blackberry are recorded on iNaturalist so the council works crews can treat them separately.

The impact

The annual weed blitzes' are significantly reducing the presence of invasive species, allowing native flora to regenerate. The work is also improving habitat quality for local wildlife as their preferred food and habitat plants are able to thrive.

The initiative also strengthens community bonds with the local council and partner community not-for profits like Landcare and Parklands Albury Wodonga. The accompanying social media campaigns raises awareness about the importance of bushland conservation, the urban/bush interface and hopefully the importance of choosing house garden plant species that will not 'escape' into bushland.

Author: Paula Sheehan