With the changeover from Catchment Boards to INRM Groups due to take place over the next year, new opportunities for funding for community projects will arise.
We have already received a couple of visits from Sarah Bignell, the new INRM Coast and Marine facilitator for the Mount Lofty Ranges and Greater Adelaide Region.
Through the network being developed by the Friends of Gulf St Vincent, we are forming relations with other groups and projects.
At Reedbeds, new possibilities are arising, of new courses and events. There may even be a
possibility of gaining official recognition of what we are achieving, in setting up an Environmental Resource Centre.
So there is all the more reason, for coming along to sample the range of possibilities on offer.
the Editor
The National Tree Day planting event which took place on Sunday 25th July was again well-attended, with around 60 participants. Fortunately the weather on the day turned out to be quite pleasant. The event was organised by Scott Nairn, the Airport's Environment Manager, who arranged for the Glenelg Lions Club to provide a barbecue and for a marquee to house the displays. The plants, consisting mainly of grasses and groundcovers, were put into a new area adjacent to the plots that were revegetated in past years.
Scott is currently working out the contractual arrangements for Peri Coleman to take on the role of environmental coordinator for the Pat Creek site.( Peri was previously contracted to write a hydrological study and to create a comprehensive Action Plan for the Creek.) Her role will involve coordinating our efforts with those of other groups such as Greening Australia, which have in the past provided work crews for particular tasks including woody weed removal and slashing of exotic grasses.
The timing of these actions is quite important, to reduce the amount of regeneration of weeds in the revegetated areas. Veldt grass in particular has the capacity to reinfest the site, if the area outside the western boundary is not slashed at the appropriate time.
Mel Rees and Nick Crouch have organised for us to take part in KESAB's Waterwatch program. This
involves taking part in a series of catchment-wide 'snapshots' on designated dates throughout the year, to measure various parameters of water quality.
Nick Fewster from KESAB came along to our workday in May to demonstrate the correct procedures for
using the test equipment and reagents to measure levels of nitrogen and phosphorus, salinity, pH and turbidity.
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Reedbeds Environment Centre
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The two Curry Nights held earlier this year were again successful in attracting a wide audience. In April, Darrell Kraehenbuehl's talk on Pre-European Vegetation of Adelaide: a survey from the Gawler River to Hallett Cove was well-received. We had to scramble on the night to get a suitable 35mm projector to show his slides, some of which date back to the 1950s, of West Lakes and the Lefevre Peninsula. Fortunately we have had an offer of a projector in case we need one in the future.
(Congratulations to Darrell for being made an OAM in the latest Honours List for his botanical work.)
Peri Coleman's talk in July on the Salt Marshes of Gulf St Vincent demonstrated the depth of her passion for these biologically rich but neglected and much-abused places. The topic was timely, considering our increasing involvement with the Sharing the Samphire Coast
community forum.
This year FoPC has been fortunate in winning another FACS Volunteer Small Equipment Grant, for $2,000 for a data projector. This will be used by speakers at Curry Nights who give PowerPoint presentations, as well as for presenting our own material at other venues.
The next Curry Night speaker, Professor Martin Williams, has an international reputation in the study of geologically recent climate change and has previously worked in China and Africa, in the Sahara and Ethiopia.
Dr Jan Carey, also from the University of Adelaide, has helped out with our Curry Nights and shown a keen interest in our activities. She has raised the possibility of running short, low-cost community-based courses in environmental matters at Reedbeds.
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Friends of Gulf St Vincent
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The FoGStV AGM will be held at 2:30 pm at the Normanville Surf Lifesaving Club on Sunday 19th September. The program for the day, starting from 10:30, includes a series of talks, by Mike Bossley on the Dolphins of Gulf St Vincent, Paul Cave on Marina Construction and Patricia von Baumgarten on Mechanisms for community engagement in marine conservation.
For details of the day's program, visit the website:
Lunch will be catered by the Surf Lifesaving Club, at a cost of $10.
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Sharing the Samphire Coast
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This is the theme of a Community Forum to be held at Port Wakefield on October 10. The Samphire Coast of northern Gulf St Vincent, stretching from Ardrossan to Port Gawler, is one of the most important areas in Australia for migratory shorebirds, which come from Siberia and Alaska each year.
FoGStV supports this initiative by community groups, the local councils (Mallala, Wakefield Regional and Yorke Peninsula) and the World Wildlife Fund Australia to gain greater protection for this area, especially as development pressures on the area increase.
Details of the Forum and a registration form can be downloaded from our website:
For further information, contact Anne Jensen on 0407 170 706 or by
Email.
Friday 24 September: Curry & Casserole Night
Fundraiser for FoPC & Friends of Gulf St Vincent.
6:30pm Meal:Cost: $15 ($10 Friends of Reedbeds, S/P/U)
8:00pm Guest speaker: Professor Martin Williams
(Geographical & Environmental Studies, University of Adelaide)
Topic: Conditions in the Flinders Ranges during the peak of the
last Ice Age: Implications for climate change
(attendance at talk only is welcome Free)
Download the flyer for this event - PDF version (132 Kb)
Thursday, 30 September 2004, 7:30 pm, at:
The Reedbeds Community Centre, cnr. Fitch & Halsey Roads, Fulham (carpark entry off Phelps Court).
The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the work program for the coming workday and other on-going projects
Workdays:
Pat Creek:
Sunday 3 October, from 9 am.
Meet at the busstop (18B) on West Beach Road (west of Tapleys Hill Road,
and adjacent to the Creek and the silt ponds).
Henley & Grange Dunecare have workdays on the second Sunday of each month at the nursery in Atkin Street, Henley Beach, at 10 am.
CREATED BY:
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LINKED TO:
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 Ground Truth:
towards an
environmental history
of South Australia
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