While South West Rocks Community Dune Care is fun for the 30 or so volunteers who join in each month to share the camaraderie, the great food and the huge sense of achievement helping the native bush thrive in formerly weed-infested areas – there’s also a lot going on behind the scenes to make it all happen.

“The long-term funding from the NSW Environmental Trust has been crucial to our success,” SWR Community Dune Care President Ian Burnett said.

“This winter we completed two grants from the NSW government Environmental Trust. One for $250,000 over six years, and one for $100,000 over three years.

“Nearly all this money has been spent on bush regeneration contractors, to control the worst infestations of weeds in strategic areas. 

“And as most of these contractors are locals, the NSW Environmental Trust grants bring significant employment to the Macleay Valley”.

But the investment in bush regeneration contractors is futile without relentless follow up.

The keen volunteers from SWR Community Dune Care have contributed more than 30,000 hours over the years (worth more than $900,000 if costed at $30 per hour) to tackle new weeds that sprout after contractors have treated an area. It often takes several years of follow up before the native bush is resilient enough for the group to move on to a new area.

Recently the NSW Environmental Trust awarded SWR Community Dune Care a further grant for nearly $100,000 over the next three years.

“We are delighted that the Trust continues to recognise the commitment of our volunteers and the success of our work eradicating invasive weeds,” Mr Burnett said.

“When a group of friends stood at Smoky Cape Lighthouse over 25 years ago and decided we were going to tackle the invasive bitou bush on the dunes and headlands, we knew it was a big call, but we knew we all wanted to have a go. It shows what people power can achieve”. 

SWR Community Dune Care’s secretary Alan Hill said that over the years a lot has been learnt about applying for grants and fulfilling obligations.

“There’s lots of volunteer admin work that goes with it, like mapping the areas we’ve worked on Google Earth, taking before and after photos, directing bush regeneration contractors, site surveys before and after contractors’ work, tracking volunteer hours and so on, but it’s all worth it. 

“In a small community like ours, we can’t rely on volunteer enthusiasm alone to eradicate invasive weeds. We work over about 600 hectares of public land along 15 kilometres of coastline from the mouth of the Macleay River to south of Smoky Cape lighthouse.

“The land is controlled by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Crown Lands and Kempsey Shire Council. We collaborate with those organisations which have been enormously supportive of our work, as has Local Land Services North Coast. But the long-term grants from the NSW Environmental Trust have been the clincher. It’s down the them that the dreaded bitou bush is now pretty hard to find around South West Rocks and Arakoon,” Mr Hill said.

The group’s Bitou Bash working bee at Back Creek on October 28 was hampered by rain at first, but many keen volunteers were undaunted. They gathered about 32 kilograms of ochna seeds over the footbridge and around the park at Back Creek, which stops about 70,000 seeds dropping and being spread by birds in native bushland.

South West Rocks Community Dune Care’s final working bee for 2018 will be on Sunday, November 25 – weather permitting.

For more information please see Facebook SWRcommunitydunecare, or website  www.swrdc.com.au, or phone Alan Hill on 0419 012 640.