Environmental Volunteers caring for Wilsons Promontory National Park
Metro Melbourne, the Mitchell Shire and City of Latrobe are currently under strict lockdown. Other regional Victorians are free to travel the State (and to the Prom) – other than restrictions on entry to the locked down areas.
Check the Victorian Government’s website for details coronavirus.vic.gov.au
The easing of restrictions in regional Victoria means that Friends of the Prom activities can go ahead, but with regionally based volunteers only and strict limits on numbers.
Winter is the time of year we like to get as much planting done as possible. The Friends of the Prom’s nursery at Tidal River is full of last year’s seedlings which could not be planted due to Covid-19 restrictions.
On Saturday 3 July 2021, 24 volunteers made a start by planting 470 trees, shrubs and grasses at the Tidal River camp ground. We were planting to restore bushland within the Tidal River camp ground. The seedlings to be planted were raised from seeds and cuttings collected by Friends of the Prom around Tidal River and grown by them in their nursery at Tidal River.
This is all part of a program to restore the tree canopy and bushland understorey through the Tidal River camp ground. The original tree canopy is diminishing through natural ageing and storm damage, and the remaining trees find it harder to withstand high winds. Too many of the larger trees are being lost. Natural regeneration of bushland is not happening because of browsing animals (deer and wallaby) and trampling by humans.
Our next scheduled tree-planting activity is on Saturday 9 October. There is still much uncertainty around this activity – will it go ahead, limitations on numbers, who can attend etc. Please stay tuned for details as the date draws closer.
Friends of the Prom acknowledges the Traditional Aboriginal Custodians of Country throughout Australia and pay our respects to them, their culture and their Elders, past, present and future.