TO celebrate a year protecting the natural environment around Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest, 24 Bitou Busters volunteers and their partners gathered for lunch at the Benchmark Hotel recently.
The get-together marked the end of the group’s weeding season for the year, during which they contributed 177 hours between March and November.
The team removed more than 180 bags of invasive weeds from local bushland, including mother-of-millions, lantana, polygala, asparagus bush, and bitou bush.
Much of the group’s work focused on the bush strip along The Boulevarde at Winda Woppa, with additional weeding along the river’s edge at Moira Parade and at the downstream end of The Anchorage.
Volunteers also planted pigface and wattle at the Mullets meeting place on Jimmy’s Beach, helping to restore dune vegetation and protect coastal habitat.
Further weeding and planting of lomandra and wattle took place along the Habitat Walk near the intersection of Bennett and Mirreen streets in Hawks Nest.
By tackling invasive weeds and planting native vegetation, the volunteers are helping to protect the natural areas and wildlife that make the Tea Gardens and Hawks Nest region such a special place to live.
Co-ordinator Trish Blair thanked the volunteers for their enthusiasm and commitment to caring for the local environment. She said the group was a pleasure to organise, describing them as happy, enthusiastic locals who worked diligently while enjoying each other’s company in the field and over coffee afterwards at the Benchmark, their sponsor.
The group welcomes people who would like to help care for the environment.
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