Scrivener Hill

Scrivener Hill is a suburban reserve adjacent to the Mount Mugga Mugga Reserve which is part of Canberra Nature Park. It is largely cleared rocky hilltop with poor quality grass cover and an abundance of weeds.

A project commenced in 2009 by the Isaacs Ridge/ Mount Mugga Mugga Park Care Group (IRMMM) is designed to repair the environment of Scrivener Hill providing a native vegetation and habitat link between the Mount Mugga Mugga Reserve and reserves in adjacent suburbs and a wonderful lookout over much of western Canberra. This little known landmark was named after Charles Robert Scrivener (2 November 1855 - 26 September 1923), an Australian surveyor, and the person who surveyed numerous sites in New South Wales for the selection of a site for the Australian Capital Territory and Australia's capital city, Canberra.

Southern ACT Catchment Group received a grant through Landcare Australia’s ‘MobileMuster’ (the official recycling program of the mobile phone industry) to enable IRMMM to plant 500 native tree and shrub seedlings. An ACT Environment Grant enabled the site preparation and planting. It is envisaged that as well as providing habitat, these trees and shrubs will eventually enhance biodiversity and shade out weeds. The Isaacs Ridge/ Mount Mugga Mugga Park Care Group will undertake the ongoing maintenance of seedlings on the site.

Global Land Repair supplied their Plant Pink Tree Planting System which included the digging of holes by tractor/auger, plant starter, fertiliser, stakes, mulch mats and tree protectors.

The vegetation of the upper slopes of the Mount Mugga Mugga Reserve and the Red Hill ridge is primarily a Scribbly Gum/Red Box (Eucalyptus rossii / E polyanthemos) dry forest, with some Apple Box (E. bridgesiana and E.dives) and stands of She-Oak (Allocasuarina verticillata). The ridge provides a significant corridor leading woodland birds north into inner Canberra suburbs. The lower slopes of Mount Mugga Mugga are part of the large and otherwise unprotected Callum Brae and Mugga Lane woodlands, the largest area of the nationally endangered Yellow Box/Redgum (E.melliodora / E. blakelyi) woodland ecological community in Australia. Isaacs Ridge adjoins Mugga Mugga and provides a link to the south to Wanniassa Hills and to the west from Farrer Ridge to Mount Taylor and Cooleman Ridge.

The World of Tidbinbilla

Southern ACT Catchment Group supported by an ACT Heritage Grant is producing a book on the Tidbinbilla precinct. This is an illustrated compendium of stories about the Tidbinbilla - Birrigai -Jedbinbilla precinct pioneer and Indigenous heritage, natural systems, conservation programs, visitor experiences, and educational programs. Edited by Wendy P. Rainbird, Jennifer R. Widdowson and Valerie A. Brown, the many stories included in ‘The World of Tidbinbilla’ have been provided by a range of volunteer authors. The finished product will be approximately 180 pages, with 14 chapters and over 300 illustrations. The next-to-final draft has been delivered to the Heritage Section of the ACT Government. At this stage we are looking at a launch in late October.

Restoring the remnant Yellow box / Redgum woodland at Tuggeranong Homestead

The 31 hectare heritage listed Tuggeranong Homestead site includes two paddocks which have a large number of mature and healthy Yellow box (Eucalyptus melliodora) and Redgum (E. blakelyi) trees present. This project will conserve and enhance this small area of the nationally endangered ecological community. The main issue associated with this site is the degraded nature of the understorey as a result of weed invasion and loss of understorey species. Weed control and selective planting of shrub, forb and grass seedlings propagated from local species from this type of community will eventually assist the return of this site to a viable population of associated woodland plants.

The invasion of weeds, particularly African Lovegrass, will initially be dealt with by employing a herbicide spray contractor to spot spray Patterson’s Curse, African Lovegrass, Horehound and Skeleton weed at least twice over a eighteen month period.
Ongoing manual removal of invading weeds will be regularly undertaken by the Minders of Tuggeranong Homestead (MOTH) and other groups coordinated by the Southern ACT Catchment Group. Suitable native plants will propagated by Greening Australia and Provincial Nurseries and then planted by MOTH and Conservation Volunteers Australia. Cattle are agisted on the site primarily for fire fuel reduction and temporary electric fencing will protect new plantings.

The Yellow box / Redgum grassy woodland and the adjacent Natural Temperate grassland are remnants of the original landscape that was here before European settlement. Preservation of this site is important as it is an endangered ecological community, contributes to natural vegetation links across the urban landscape and provides a valuable education resource.

This project is supported by the Minders of Tuggeranong Homestead and Southern ACT Catchment Group through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for our Country (CfOC). The project aligns with the CfOC Biodiversity and Natural Icons outcome to increase the extent, condition, connectivity and resilience of native habitat. Our project will contribute to this by:
–– planting to enhance biodiversity and native corridors;
–– protecting remnant vegetation;
–– improving habitat for threatened species (Hooded Robin and Brown Treecreeper);
–– weed control activities to protect native plant communities.

Canberra’s Nature

This project, funded by the ACT NRM Council Small Grants Program aims to raise community awareness on the values of Canberra Nature Park (and other natural areas) within the urban area by producing a series of postcards and associated banners from high quality images taken within the southern Reserves of Canberra Nature Park.
The postcards and associated publicity will benefit the broader community by raising awareness and appreciation of our natural heritage and will encourage further community participation in conservation management through the identification, conservation, interpretation and promotion of natural heritage in the ACT. Conservation management practices help maintain the intrinsic, scientific, social, aesthetic and life-support value of our natural heritage for the community and for future generations.
This is a creative new approach to raising awareness in the Southern ACT catchment.

Water Education in Southern ACT

(Funded by Caring for Our Country, ACT Environment Grants and ActewAGL Source Water Protection Program Education Grants)
The project provides for the part time employment of a qualified teacher as an Education Officer with the Southern ACT Catchment Group to develop and implement a source water protection education program for Primary, Secondary and College students in the southern ACT catchment area. (see ‘Our Water’ www.sactcg.org.au/files/teachers resource.pdf ). Source water protection involves the management and use of the catchment that supplies the community’s potable water supply.
Educating future generations on the importance of maintaining a high quality water supply and the methods associated with catchment management is necessary to work toward a sustainable future.
‘Environmental education for sustainability is a concept encompassing a vision of education that seeks to empower people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating a sustainable future.’ UNESCO.
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27234&URL_DO=DO_TOPI....

Potential outcomes of the Project:
• Increase in education of catchment health issues at a primary, secondary and college levels.
• Increase in education of source water issues at a primary, secondary and college levels.
• Increase in school excursions to venues and activities highlighting catchment and source water issues.
• Increase in students “Acting for an environmentally sustainable future” as identified by the Essential Learning Achievements 20 (ACT Dept Education Curriculum)
• Increase in teacher awareness of learning activities and opportunities that address objectives of ELA 20 as identifies by the ACT Department of Education.

Martin Lind our Waterwatch Coordinator has taken on the role of Education Officer. Martin can be contacted on 6296 6400 or email waterwatch@sactcg.org.au

Southern ACT Catchment Coordination
Funded by Caring for Our Country, this project employs a coordinator to provide the Southern ACT Community with on-going support and coordination for the protection and development of our environment. This project will enable the Southern ACT Catchment Group Inc. to:
• increase community awareness and understanding of NRM:
• encourage and support local Landcare, Park Care, Waterwatch and other community groups with planning, funding and monitoring of their areas;
• empower the community to take part in actions that will address local environmental issues, toward achieving regional NRM targets;
• establish and maintain effective partnerships between local government, community, schools, industry and the NRM network;
• Develop understanding, skills, motivation and capacity of the community by facilitating technical support, capacity building and engaging the community in on-ground activities.

Waterwatch Coordination

Funded by Caring for Our Country, this project employs a part-time Waterwatch Coordinator for southern ACT. This person has the job of supporting the Waterwatch volunteers with supplies of analytical apparatus and chemicals, with training, with collecting, sorting and passing on the volunteers observations and with providing feed-back to the volunteers and the SACTCG committee on the state of local waterways.

The coordinator also has the task of publicising the activities of the volunteers and increasing public awareness of water health issues. For this purpose the Waterwatch Coordinator supports the SACTCG website with a monthly report and seasonal catchment updates. Importantly, the Coordinator presents the SACTCG, and the citizens of southern Canberra, with a report on the waterways in the catchment area which summarises the work of the volunteers.

The Waterwatch Coordinator also is involved in environmental education in the catchment, presenting schools visits on Waterwatch issues, and contributing to holiday education programs associated with Community Libraries and Community Centres.