Beautiful Sydney has such an ugly secret.

  In scenic Sydney we’re lucky to have quite a few patches of “urban bushland”  dotted  around the traps that have been mercifully spared from the bulldozers.

Unblemished  Sydney bushland

 The sad truth though, is that most of these remnants are being smothered by introduced invasive weeds, used as convenient dumpsites and are fast losing their (once) amazing biodiversity.

This ancient Banksia has been smothered to death by introduced weeds

 Just look along the fence lines of properties backing onto bushland and you’ll discover, almost universally, the same story, a total disconnection from and lack of respect for the natural vegetation. Sydney homeowners invariably seem to grow plant species that “escape” from their gardens into the bush (such as Agapanthus) and “out compete” the fragile natives. They also turn a blind eye to (and neglect to tackle) destructive weeds such as Morning Glory, Lantana, Ginger Lily and Privet that thrive on the fertilizers washed out of their flower beds.

Ginger Lily, Fishbone Fern and Morning Glory will totally replace fragile native plants.

 To compound this problem they tend to think that it’s their god given right to hurl garden clippings, unwanted bricks and scrap metal into the bush, providing species of unwanted weeds from around the globe, a perfect springboard to assault our fragile native flora.

Almost everyone grows this same boring weed species called Agapanthus

 The upshot is that Sydney bushland, far from being the richly diverse “larder” that sustained indigenous peoples for millennia, or the wondrous spectacle that would have greeted Captain Cook and his crew, is fast disappearing before our very eyes.

A typical Sydney fenceline..the yellow (Senna) and blue (Morning Glory) are strangling the bushland.

  Worryingly, virtually no one living next to bushland appears to have any knowledge of what’s happening,  very few are inclined to retain or grow endemic native plants on their land, are bothered to remove weed species or express concern at the disturbing rate of land degradation (apart from isolated “Bushcare” groups).

 Indeed, almost the only interaction between residents and bushland is the increasingly popular practice of poisoning surviving Eucalyptus trees to enhance views. Some people also have a habit of moving into bushland suburbs for the natural beauty values only to then complain about the fire risks and lobby for greater “hazard reduction” zones.

 There is an incredible amount of ignorance in the community about native flora and fauna, so most residents would fail to distinguish between native plants and the introduced species that are fast replacing them. If the trend continues, our natural areas will just become one big weedy desert. As a consequence the birds, animals and insects that relay on native plants for their food source, will vanish too.

When native plants disappear, so does most biodiversity

 So what’s the solution?  Residents whose houses back onto bushland, should be encouraged to learn more about their “duty of care”, prompted to remove invasive plants species from their gardens and fined for doing the “wrong thing”. Councils and government should be much more proactive in regards to community education (as should our schools). According to the Australian Conservation Foundation,  people today recognise less than 10 plant species but more than a thousand corporate logos.

Australia these days is populated by people from around the world. Not surprisingly, most have little understanding or awareness of this nation’s natural heritage and many have an unnatural fear of this continent’s nature. I believe new citizens should have to learn not just about the nation’s history but about its natural history.

 It doesn’t help that TV “gardening”  shows totally ignore the plants that grow naturally in this country and concentrate on promoting only exotic hybrids and cultivars. Who is going to protest the loss of something that the community doesn’t even realise is going? The reality is that it would take a massive capital expenditure to substantially and professionally restore areas of degraded bushland plus a political will that just doesn’t exist ( most current rehabilitation programs are small scale and cosmetic).

Gardening "experts" will never tell you about native Boronias!

 The trouble is, once you possess the knowledge that urban bushland is in deep crisis, a walk in your local reserve will never be quite the joyful experience that it once was.

 In a society that puts such a high premium on beauty and good looks...where did it all go so horribly wrong?

Fancy a walk amongst the weeds??

 Check out this other blog post if you are interested in  "Re-wilding" your backyard

A few community members have seen the light and are caring for
remnant bushland.

Weed better talk about this issue...

 Believe me, for most of my life I thought weed was either something you smoked or kicked sand in the face of. If you’d told me years ago that I would develop a malevolent dislike for the plural of weed, I would have thought you were off your trolley, barmy, nuts, crazy, absolutely stark raving, stonking mad. But then I suppose I went “troppo”, ended up living in the suburbs of Sydney, and discovered the awful harm these pernicious things actually did.  To be fair, I was raised in the English Midlands where weeds were harmlessly insignificant and there was so little genuine nature left, that they were almost as good as it got.  I’ve since learned that around 80% of Britain’s flora is not endemic. 

 

 Fast forward to life in the burgeoning metropolis of Sydney, which is still blessed to have pockets of native vegetation interspersed with suburbia. Here you’ll find incredible plant biodiversity and species that have survived from the time of the Gondwana super-continent, learning to adapt and evolve to dry, hot, arid conditions and nutrient poor soils and fire. You’ll also find lots and lots of weeds. These are not weedy weeds though...they’re aggressive super-sized marauders on a testosterone fueled rampage.  And yes, like just about everything else that’s bad in this wonderful continent...the ignorant, thoughtless, careless colonialists and their progeny are to blame.

 It all started with the first British settlers wanting to plant reminders of “home” at every given opportunity and it continues to this day with the horticultural industry still bringing in new profit-making varieties from overseas. Every single one is a potential weed.

Weed management  actually costs the Australian economy around $4 billion annually,  weeds represent, the second greatest threat to biodiversity after land clearing and almost half of Australia's 220 declared noxious weeds were introduced deliberately, one third of these as garden ornamentals.  

  People still prefer to plant “exotics” rather than their own native species and chances are these will invade the bushland and outgrow, overwhelm and displace the flora that was there originally, especially when boosted by the steroid effect of high nutrients provided by garden fertilizers and urban run-off.  If you love nature, it is pretty hard to witness the demise of high diversity bushland as it gets swamped, smothered and eventually killed off by a suite of foreign invaders. These are some of the most prominent rogue species on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. If they exist in your garden, please get rid!

Asparagus Fern.  This menace is from South Africa and like many other weeds..its seeds are spread by birds that eat the red berries.  You can offer see this as a feature plant in suburban gardens, especially in hanging baskets.

Lantana. This native of Central and South America was brought to Australia in around 1840 as a garden ornamental. It has now invaded around 4 million hectares and graziers spend over 17 million dollars per annum trying to control it.  (NB in heavily denuded areas it is often the last refuge for small birds so caution is advised before hurried removal). Lantana has been cultivated for well over 300 years and has hundreds of hybrids. It has been nominated as among the top hundred world’s worst invaders. It is thought that the original un-hybridised version no longer exists in nature.

Cotoneaster. This is another weed from China which is highly invasive.  It is a common garden plant which escapes into the bush and also acts as a food source for feral bird species.

Senna/Cassia  This is another nasty piece of work from South America which was imported here as a garden plant..It is very invasive and thrives in all conditions.

 

Morning Glory This is another ostensibly “pretty” garden plant but once it gets into the bush it can be a nightmare to remove. A native of China, it was used for medicinal purposes due to the laxative properties of its seeds.

Ochna is a native of South Africa with bright yellow flowers. It is also known as the Mickey Mouse Bush due to the plant’s red sepals and black seed which has a passing resemblance to the Disney character. Another rampant invader of our bushland.

Privet. As a child in Birmingham UK, we had massive privet hedges in our garden which were sculpted and lovingly preened. Little did I know that in later years I would be frantically cutting these plants down. In Australia, their black fruits are greedily consumed by birds which collaborate in spreading this pest deep into fragile bushland where it grows rampantly. There are small-leaf and broad-leaf varieties native to Eastern Asia and European privet which is native to Southern Europe and Northern Africa.

Pittosporum Undulatum (Sweet Pittosporum). This is a weird one as it is actually a native plant that has gone feral and is now out-competing other species and shading them out. It has done especially well in soils that have been modified by humans and takes advantage of high nutrient levels.

For help identifying weeds of the Sydney region click here  weed I.D.

A "vision splendid" for Manly Creek

 Manly Creek is a small waterway on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. It was traversed  and explored by Captain Arthur Phillip in 1788 but was obviously significant to the indigenous community for many thousands of years prior.

At one end of Manly Creek you’ll find the beautiful bush-lined Manly Reservoir (the very last body of freshwater in Sydney where the water is still clean enough to swim). 

Manly Reservoir 

At the other end, adjacent to the glorious surfing beach at Queenscliff, is Manly Lagoon, renowned for being the most polluted lagoon on the eastern seaboard of Australia. 

Manly Lagoon  Mass Fish Kill from Herbicide Spill 2001

 So let’s take a quick journey along this 3 kilometer stretch of creek and do it with a mission...to save the pockets of important remnant bushland, connect them into a wildlife corridor and try to ensure that the waterway itself is conserved as an important sanctuary for native fish and waterbirds.

 The creek itself was rudely interrupted in 1892 when a concrete dam was built across it to ensure that the settlement of Manly had a reliable source of water. These days the waterway relies on leaks in the structure (or scheduled releases from the dam) for its sporadic flow. 

Manly Dam

Immediately abutting the heritage listed dam is a small section of land owned by Sydney Water . The creek then flows through the facilities of Manly Hydraulics Lab and the UNSW Water Research Lab. 

 Because this area is fenced off and fairly secluded, the areas of native vegetation are of good quality (swamp wallabies, bandicoots and goannas have been spotted here!).  Some work has also been conducted to tackle the problem of invasive weeds which are the scourge of remnant bushland.

Fenced off section of good bushland on Sydney Water Land

Image of Lace Monitor (Goanna) eating a rabbit 

(courtesy UNSW Water research Lab)

There is a small pool of water on the creekline within the university grounds

Mini Mermaid Pool

... and the larger “Mermaid Pool” and waterfall is just downstream from here.

The larger (and more famous) of the "Mermaid Pools" 

Mermaid Pool sadly became a dumpsite in the years since the area became part of Sydney’s suburbia but more happily in recent years it has been lovingly restored thanks to the “Return of the Mermaids” project.  Read the full story here:-Everything you need to know about restoring Mermaid Pool

Mermaid Pool falls within the far western boundary of Warringah's District Park which is currently being assessed for a new Plan Of Management. District Park encompasses a number of playing fields and a golf course as well as this section of creek line.  Submissions to a discussion paper were canvassed and received but unfortunately the "vision" to include unreserved areas of crown land in the District Park precinct have so far not registered. Submissions are now being received for a "Draft Plan of Management District Park Draft Plan of Management. (comments close 14th July 2015).

Unfortunately the District park boundaries tend to hug the creek-line fairly closely in this section (especially on the northern side) leaving much of the remnant bushland outside the boundaries.

Some of the fragile bushland surrounding Mermaid Pool

This leaves various parcels of crown land very vulnerable. It would be great if these parcels could be transferred  to District Park classification.

The specific parcels in question, near Mermaid Pool that are zoned R2 -(residential) include portions of Lots 7369 & 7370 DP 1165551 and 7371 DP 116557 ). This anomaly apparently happened during the "translation process from LEP 2000 to LEP 2011". 

One of the volunteers working to restore this special place.

 This area of bushland has the highest biodiversity value of all the creeks leading into Manly Lagoon.  The Department of Lands has already indicated in the past that they would be happy to transfer this land to Council jurisdiction without charge. This would help secure this unique riparian zone and protect a wonderful (but often unheralded) feature of District Park. Conserving the upper catchment, of course, is also the best way of ensuring  the environmental health of Manly Lagoon (so long under scrutiny).

 The Manly Warringah War Memorial Park (Plan of Management), states (page 61) that:- “Bushland linkages need to be protected and enhanced to enable movement of flora and fauna between reserves in Warringah. Other areas adjoining the Park could be considered as linkages including District Park

 As the creek leaves Mermaid Pool on its journey towards the ocean it passes a magnificent stand of ancient rainforest before invasive weeds close in.

Surviving patch of glorious Rainforest...

...followed by a wall of invasive weeds..morning glory, lantana, privet etc

 One particular nemesis is the noxious Ludwigia Peruviana (yes it was introduced from Peru) which has the capacity to block the flow of the water. 

 Anecdotal evidence suggests that you could once paddle in a canoe from Mermaid Pool to the beach...although a section of piped creek in Warringah Golf Course would now make this impossible.  ideally as part of the new Plan of Management the piped area will be rehabilitated to assist the migration of native fish up the creekline.  For more information on the fish population of Manly Creek read here

Volunteers, Wol and Andrew retrieving discarded graffiti paint spray cans 

from under Condamine St bridge.

 Warringah Council has already produced an excellent blueprint for the future of Manly Creek, in a report titled:-

“Warringah Council Local Habitat Plan, Habitat Restoration Plan, Manly Creek Corridor”. This document details plans to preserve, restore and expand the pockets of bushland that still survive along Manly Creek as well as other ways to improve and protect this important community amenity. All we need now is for them to implement it !

Other important related documents are:-

 Warringah Natural Area Survey, Vegetation History & Wildlife Corridors, August 2005

Warringah Natural Area Survey, Vegetation Communities & Plant Species, August 2005

Warringah  Local Habitat Strategy November  2007

Further down the creek, volunteer, Tom Hazell and his team have done an amazing job in planting indigenous vegetation along the waterway between Nolans and Passmore Reserve. This is Manly's hidden Venice but in a glorious native plant and parkland setting.

 Heading towards Manly Lagoon and the beach !

Read about the benefits of wildlife corridors:-here

 Please support community efforts to conserve, protect and improve this important part of our natural heritage. 

NEWS UPDATE 

The NSW Government is currently seeking ways to transfer parcels of crown land to council jurisdiction SMH article (28.3.14). 


Read A fact sheet detailing the concern for the future of Crown Lands here:-Crown Lands fact Sheet

Batting For Australia

 What an amazing service bats do for this nation and what little thanks they get for it! Most of us are familiar with larger bats, the flying foxes, as we can witness their spectacular flight formations over the Sydney sky at dusk.  These animals provide vital ecological services. They are important pollinators (the sole pollinators of certain tree species) and they also disperse seeds which helps keep our forests viable. Their natural diet is native fruit and pollen.

 

 What you may not know is that we also have nearly twenty species of microbat in our area.  Most of these are very small...some are as tiny as your thumbnail and weigh less than a 10 cent coin!  Most microbats eat only insects and some thrive on mosquitoes - scoffing down thousands every night.  In fact, if bats ever became extinct, insect numbers would soon reach plague proportions (they already save us billions of dollars a year in agricultural pest control). So why do humans get so illogically squeamish at the very thought of these cute and beneficial creatures?  Well many people wrongly associate bats with vampires, witchcraft and black magic but the only spells I’ve seen them cast in real life are those of wonder and fascination.  Bats are warm blooded, placental mammals.  Like us, they usually have one baby at a time, with occasional twins. They carry their offspring around with them for about three weeks after they are born, and continue to breast-feed them for up to 6 months. Although flying foxes have good sight and all bats can see with their eyes, the really amazing thing about microbats  is that they fly and hunt in darkness using echolocation.  They basically emit ultra sonic calls and by repeatedly scanning the echoing sound patterns, can mentally construct an accurate image of the environment in which they are moving as well as their potential prey. No wonder they have such big ears!

  

 Until recently there was a colony of around 22,000 Grey-headed flying foxes roosting in the Royal Botanical Gardens. It became quite a tourist attraction as it was possible to observe the chattering, upside-down hanging, melee during daylight hours.  Unfortunately, the Botanical Gardens Trust decided that the bats were causing too much collateral damage to their exotic trees and with Federal Government approval, moved them on, using loud recorded noises. Grey-headed flying foxes are a threatened species, protected under both state and national environment law. Thankfully, it seems, many of the relocating bats have been welcomed by the Centennial Parklands Foundation and small colonies have even made themselves at home on the Peninsula. It is recommended that people do not disturb or handle bats though, as, like all animals, including cats, they can carry disease.

Endangered Grey-headed flying foxes roost near a busy road at Balgowlah

 Microbats roost inside tree hollows and sometimes under rock overhangs, bridges and culverts during the day.  Their main threat is loss of habitat and competition for roosts from Indian Miners and feral bees. They are also at risk from predation by cats and rats and are sensitive to pollution, loud noise and bright lights.

Footnote: Amazingly, our part of the world can even boast a bat that fishes....the Large-footed Myotis.  It forages over pools of water in rivers, lakes and small streams, using its over-sized feet to scoop along water surfaces for small fish and aquatic insects. It has recently been found at Narrabeen Lagoon.

A Lesser long-eared bat

People in "the know" believe that bats are the coolest animals on the planet. To find out more and to help with conservation efforts check this link.. Sydney's bats