National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) are calling for all hands on deck this autumn to help remove environmental weeds from Barrington Tops National Park.
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NPWS Bush Regeneration and Volunteering officer Boyd Carney said the Carters Road Wildfire cleared the way for environmental weeds to thrive.
"More than 4000 hectares of the Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Area on the Barrington Tops was impacted by the bushfires," Boyd said. "With the fire damaging or destroying swathes of native vegetation, and stimulating seed germination, Scotch Broom has sprung up across the park, outcompeting our precious native plants in some areas."
NPWS is seeking volunteers to help 'nip this in the bud' by physically removing the weeds to prevent them from spreading and setting seed. This will help the Tops to recover by creating space for native plants to regrow and flourish, and providing healthy habitat for native fauna, like the Broad-toothed rat and the Spotted-tailed Quoll.
Supplementing its annual program and using funding from the Saving our Species program, Hunter Local Land Services and the Commonwealth Bushfire Recovery grants, NPWS treated 700 hectares of mature scotch broom in 2020. Another 700 hectares are planned for treatment before July 2021.
There are six small group volunteer days planned with 30 volunteers needed for each. These two-day working bees feature free camping at the Little Murray campground with carpooling to cut unburnt mature broom plants and emerging seedlings around Junction Pools and Edwards Swamp.
The working bee dates are February Thursday 25 - Friday 26 and Saturday 27 - Sunday 28; March Thursday 25 - Friday 26 and Saturday 27 - Sunday 26; April Thursday 29 - Friday 30; May Saturday 1 - Sunday 2.
Interested individuals should register for a spot via the NPWS Volunteer Information Portal (VIP): https://app.betterimpact.com/PublicOrganization/890cfb76-34d9-47c6-b860-f95854227d8b/1
NPWS will supply tools and safety equipment for broom control works.