LOCAL HABITAT RESTORATION
MEA has had a very busy year working on public land around Mornington, restoring foreshore and cliff vegetation so that the areas retain their attractive scenic value, and better habitat is provided for birds, bats and gliders – someday, we will see echidnas that used to be here!
Red Bluff
Much of this work has been done by volunteers in our working bees who give up a couple of hours on monthly Sunday mornings to work with our contractors, Naturelinks. Red Bluff, the cliff at the southern end of Mills Beach, has two grants being finalised in mid-year 2013. One, to restore the areas around the tracks and lookouts, is provided by Coastcare, and includes educational, research and weeding and planting projects. Another, much bigger grant has been provided by the Commonwealth government to remove the woody weeds and replant the central areas of the Bluff. Cleared areas have now been planted with indigenous species and most of these are staked, guarded with plastic shields and some also have felt mats to prevent loss of moisture and to assist in controlling some of the weeds. Bridal creeper has been particularly annoying on Red Bluff, and despite spraying, continues to reshoot. Eventually we are hoping to introduce a rust, which will control, though not eradicate the creeper. There are also 3 nest boxes up the bluff and we are about to install a monitoring camera to see if occupants are moving in!
If you are interested in helping, please contact us on morningtonea@gmail.com.
