What did we achieve in year one?

The  Emu Creek Landcare Group was formed in March 2020. 

Despite the challenges of 2020, a considerable amount of work has been done since then towards creating new habitats for our local wildlife, in an effort to eventually restore Emu Creek in Belconnen.

Most of the work was done by residents of Renny Place, or other Belconnen locals. Activities have included mulching, planting, weeding, helping bring Floriade re-imagined to Belconnen, a corporate planting day, and communications, including community consultation.

The group is associated with the Ginninderra Catchment Group (GCG) and received a grant, managed by GCG, most of which will be spent on an autumn 2021 planting. But we are pretty excited at what we have already achieved in a relatively short time, as outlined below.

I am also excited to report that, as a result of the Emu Creek group starting up, there is renewed interest in a proposal in the Belconnen Draft Management Plan to create a wetland on the oval. 

The ACT Labor party has committed to funding a feasibility study, and we await the budget for details. How amazing would it be to have a wetland like the one in Lyneham in our local area!

Achievements:

• over 20 locals have registered with the group, and others have joined in activities on a casual basis - with more than 450 hours of work undertaken
• great feedback received from other locals and passers-by who appreciate the plantings and local action to address climate change
• a continuous area of around 2,000m², on the eastern side of Emu Creek, is now mulched, planted, or a no-mow area, with a further 2,400m², mostly treed, further north, also a no-mow area
• several hundred shrubs, grasses and forbs have been planted in these areas
• some 50 large trees [eucalypts, casuarinas] have been planted, mostly outside the areas mentioned above, mostly in small beds also containing shrubs [wattles, banksias, callistemon] and grasses/forbs
• the wet spring has seen a massive regrowth of native grasses
• as well as the self-sown native grasses, at least 4 self-sown eucalypts have been protected
• two grass experts, Ken Hodgkinson and Michael Mulvaney, have done quick inspections of the site, and recommended additional species to plant

Water:

• Much more water is now retained on the site, rather than entering storm water drains with organic material - improving the water quality in Lake Ginninderra.

Costs: 

• There is considerable saving to government since there is less to mow. While there was some government involvement in the tree planting, it was considerably less than if they were totally responsible

Biodiversity: 

• There has been a considerable increase in plant diversity, and there are fewer weeds. 
• It appears that the are also more insects, but as yet there is no evidence of an increase in other animals, such as skinks or small birds.

Carbon: 

• Each of the 50+ trees will, over time, absorb tonnes of carbon. 
• Unmown grass also retains more carbon, and less mowing means less carbon from petrol.

Emu Creek Landcare Group - what do we do?

We are a neighbourhood group, working to improve the open grassy area west of Renny Place, near the intersection of Eastern Valley Way and Belconnen Way, in Belconnen. We work on bush regeneration, weeding and plantings with the support of the ACT Government, and have a bit of fun while doing it :)

Other endeavours include tackling African Lovegrass, establishing a “tool library”, and setting up habitat boxes for microbats.

We even contributed to the recent Floriade in the Suburbs. Did you see our flowerbeds? #belcopride.