You are invitedFriends of Cleland National Park is looking for volunteers for bush care and planting activities. This group of volunteers currently has adopted 9 different sites from Meadows Day Lookout to Steub Trail & Waterfall Gully.
Southern Brown Bandicoot is the symbol for the Friends group Image Credit: Friends of Cleland National Park
Here are some of the highlights of their sites.
Meadows Day lookoutThe group has removed various non-native plants like Bridal Creepers & Brooms. They already started planting since last year and planted 110 bushes and grasses this year. A contractor has begun to build some new steps down from the carpark which will compliment their plantings. The area is going to look a lot different next time you visit.
Meadows Day Lookout
When a gentleman Mr Steub left half a million dollars of his estates to the National Parks & Wildlife Service of South Australia, the department decided to honour him by creating this trail from Cleland Widlife Park to the Summit. This trail has added one more way for us to enjoy this beautiful park so close to the city. If you have walked this newly established Steub Trail, you will notice the revegetation planted since the winter of 2021. Prior to the planting, the Friends group cleared pre-dominantly Brooms in the area. They are slowly working their way down the hill along the Steub Trail to one day regenerate the entire hillside once dominated with brooms.
Revegetation along Steub Trail
Most visitors walk up to the Second Falls and head back to the carpark. Some will go all the way to the Summit for their weekly cardio workout. The group however spent a lot of their last year clearing the invasive weed Arundo along the Second Falls area. The Arundo was once thriving in the area and outcompeting the native plants. They look like bamboo and once you get to recognise them, you will often spot them along the waterways like Torrens River.
Arundo removal at Second Falls Image Credit: Friends of Cleland National Park
Do you know that the group has been maintaining the slopes off the Summit lookout and the Discovery trail? It is now fairly "weed free". This area is now under a monitoring stage and they will come back to it every few months to weed the new growth.
Mt Lofty Summit
This will be their new area for bush regeneration in preparation for bandicoots as the Friends group is now working with the University of Adelaide & Burnside Council in the Bolstering Bandicoots Project to re-create and provide a habitat for the Southern Brown Bandicoots which are endangered in the Adelaide Mt Lofty Ranges because of habitat loss.
Planting will be happening in Winter Track area for Southern Brown Bandicoots
Friends of Cleland also started monitoring the Southern Brown Bandicoots by placing a camera at different parts of the park. It helps the conservationists and rangers to understand these little native creatures better. More importantly, avoid the prescribed burning where they have been sighted.
Foxes have been captured by the surveillance camera. Image Credit: Friends of Cleland National Park
If you are looking to know the Australian native plants and animals a little deeper, your local national park is the best place to start. I have talked to some of their volunteers and they said they loved seeing their achievements and the differences they have made over time, the meditative nature of removing weeds and the coffee catch-up after each bush care session.
Friends of Cleland meet every Tuesday and Friday in different parts of the park. If you can't make it, the Friends group is now expanding to cater for volunteers who can spare a weekend afternoon to get outdoor and give back. They are going to meet one Sunday every month. Follow them on Facebook and subscribe to their newsletter to find out the details.
Friends of Cleland National Park is looking for more volunteers.
