Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council (DLALC) has been busy working on the ‘Untracked’ initiative since January, to rehabilitate and restore the environment.
DLALC made great strides in returning two areas of land back to their natural state.
The project, due for completion in June, was established in partnership with Greater Sydney Local Land Services and Conservation Volunteers, to protect fragile environments and prevent harm to sites of cultural significance.
Two pockets of land near Wyee Road, Doyalson, were identified for the project, with rehabilitation work designed to achieve total revegetation in the area.
This included activities such as improving soil and growing conditions for re-vegetation planning and direct planting and seeding of native species.
Darkinjung’s Work Health Safety and Environmental Officer, Mr Allan Beale, said there was an obvious need for the project at Doyalson.
“Unfortunately, Darkinjung’s landholdings are prone to illegal activity and access by 4WDs and motorbikes, which has left the land with unwanted tracks.
“This unauthorised access invites other undesirable activities such as illegal dumping, vandalism, destruction of infrastructure and sensitive environments, which is potentially damaging to cultural sites.
“The team felt that there was an inherent need to do something about this and we were lucky enough to have two great partners in Greater Sydney Local Land Services and Conservation Volunteers to assist us,” Mr Beale said.
In total, thanks to volunteers and Darkinjung staff, more than 2.5km of tracks were rehabilitated and 2,500 native plants were planted.
Darkinjung Chief Executive Officer, Mr Sean Gordon, said he extended his thanks to everyone who participated.
“Seeing the work of these wonderful volunteers and staff has been really rewarding.
“The dedication of our team towards the protection of our land is truly inspiring and they have all done such a great job at implementing strategies to shield our land from harm.”
Project workers also installed over 30 deterrence barriers at the beginning and end of each track, with ongoing monitoring to be undertaken.
Source:
Media release, May 31
Ashleigh Milne, Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council