By Bruce Nulty, Clyde Cameron Reserve Group
Ghandi said, “People who think small things do not matter, have never slept with a mosquito.” The Clyde Cameron Reserve Group has only four household members and 25 Associates. We are working on the section of House Creek behind the Murray Valley Hospital from the Pearce Street Bridge up-stream to the foot-bridge.
We are planting and maintaining a corridor of native plants along House Creek to attract worms, insects, birds and native animals to the area to increase the biodiversity. Roots of the plants also hold the soil and prevent erosion of the creek bank. In our section of House Creek here is a tree which appears to be in the middle of the creek. Either side of the tree the bank is severely eroded. This is a good example of how tree roots can preserve the bank.
We remove weeds along the bank, plant native trees, shrubs and grasses and lay cardboard and mulch to give the plants a chance among the weeds. The mulch keeps the cardboard moist and the moisture attracts bugs which attract insects and birds and creates biodiversity. This will also help the other trees in the Reserve. Finches and magpies seem to enjoy our efforts.
When Pam and I bought our block in Lingford Court 12 years ago, we were delighted to be overlooking a large park on a pleasant little creek. Working down there for a couple of hours a week over the last year, we have developed a more intimate “like” for the Reserve. We wonder how many of our plants will survive the next good flood and how much mulch we will have to replace.
Our supporters include; the Wodonga Council, Mars PetCare, Woolworths (Whitebox), Parklands Albury Wodonga, Friends of Willow Park and the Catholic College year 9 students and teachers who work with us on the project. In winter the Council plans to install some bench seats in the Reserve.
The recently formed Wodonga Urban Landcare Network (WULN) has taken over the Biolinks project, which was started by the Friends of Willow Park. The Clyde Cameron Reserve Group is a foundation group within the WULN. We are only having a small impact on a small section of our environment, but small contributions do matter. We welcome interested people to join our group.
Further information: https://ecoportal.net.au/organisations/clyde-cameron-reserve-group