Bush Regenerators Holiday on Fraser
Island, 7 Rules for.
Putting a
bunch of bush regenerators on an island for a busmen’s holiday is not new. Lord
Howe has set a precedent. Fraser Island worked so well because the problems of
accommodating, feeding, waking up and entertaining a bunch of lotus eaters were
all taken care of (tirelessly) by Mary (organizer, baker, cook), Su (cook, FIDO
rep, weeder), Colleen (kitchen support, FIDO rep, weeder) and George (guide,
driver, NPA rep, weeder). We lotus-eaters (Ian, Jan, Neil, Sandy, Vicki, Ross,
Stephanie, Julian) were organized into a good regeneration team by the last two
of our number, who fell into the task like naturals. We ate a lot of lotuses,
we did a lot of talking, we had a lot of fun; we did the weeding too. We saw
some stunning nature thanks to George: the lakes, the creeks, the rainforests,
the sharks, rays, turtles, fish, birds, beach life, and the sand. Incredible
what a big pile of sand can dish up. Not far behind all of this loomed John
Sinclair (FIDO rep, legend), who breezed through one night with a mob of
inspired American students, a cauldron of soup and a big dessert of caramel
dumplings.
Rule No 2: You have to start
somewhere.
We started
with a couple of Madeira Vines infestations in a weedy patch of coastal cypress
between Eurong Resort and Eurong Second Valley, a third way up the east coast
of Fraser Island.
Rule No 3: You need a
management plan.
We mapped one before we started, following an introduction by Dr. Ivan Thrash, the local Resource Ranger who took us on a tour of the weedy environs of Eurong village (and gave us excellent support throughout), and the Fraser Island Defence Organization ‘s weed information sheets. Members of FIDO weeded with us throughout. We had enough bush regeneration experience among us to ensure that any day-by-day amendments did not mean picking up the pieces left by a bad start.
Rule No 4: Nip small patches of
nasty weeds in the bud:
So we started
with one particular Madeira vine infestation (possibly the only one in Eurong).
Working here we also encountered: corky passionfruit¾very common and widespread in native
open forest; lantana¾also
widespread; ground asparagus; Singapore daisy; mother-of-millions¾a weed that occupied a lot of our time; and Easter cassia, which,
along with vines of Brazilian cherry, fell into the
has-to-be-nipped-in-the-bud-category and upon which we did quite a lot of bud-nipping. These last two are still
mainly confined to village environs and have the means to spread to larger
areas.
Rule No 5: Encourage prevention
rather than cure.
Difficult,
when hoicking garden rubbish into the bush is a bit of a tradition on Fraser
Island, like four wheel driving and feeding dingos. As well as weeding through
classic garden rubbish on our first site, we moved to the edges and road
approaches of Eurong. Here we removed a iconic senna, and some ground asparagus
and fishbone fern from an eye-catching display on Eurong Resort ground (with
consent), and pushed into adjacent weedy, rubbishy edges of the village,
removing most of the weeds mentioned, as well as siratro and red alternanthera
. Once we were fifteen metres into the bush, we encountered almost weed-free vegetation, marred only by
the ubiquitous, bird-dispersed corky passionfruit and dingo-dispersed
non-garden rubbish. We had finally discovered the sort of thing we were busy
regenerating: a sedgy, grassy coastal cypress forest with a 10m-15m high open
canopy that also included broad-leaved paperbark, Moreton Bay ash, swamp box,
pink bloodwood and the occasional small-leaved fig. There was a scattered
sclerophyll shrub layer with a succession of mesic shrubs and vines such as
canthium and cheese tree and the interlopers, corky passionfruit and lantana.
This is common in the sub-littoral areas on the eastern side of the island.
Rule No 6: Get a feel for the bush
you are regenerating, after all it’s the goal. Locals,
including the resort staff, appreciated our work. They offered to encourage
proper disposal of garden rubbish and to avoid the planting of weedy garden
species. The resort is now interested in planting local native species.
Rule No 7: Follow up.
We will not
have worked in vain. The next bush regenerators holiday to Fraser Island is
planned for 22 May 2006. FIDO and Eurong Resort have offered to help with
accommodation. Go! For information contact Mary Tang (marymanlan@mac.com; 02
99090438), or Stephanie and Julian Lymburner (lymbo@nor.com.au 02 66834724)