The successful receipt of a Friends of Parks and Nature Grant has enabled our Reserve Management team to conduct a series of crucial native plant and weed identification and control training sessions for volunteers at Murbpook Nature Reserve earlier this month.

The sessions were facilitated by two of our Murbpook weed control contractors, Amanda and Petrina, who educated the group about the priority weed species on the reserve, how to identify between exotic and native plants, along with a range of weed control techniques and their recommended timings. Volunteers then tested their training by mapping some sample weed locations around the reserve and recording their findings in our data collection platform.

These newly acquired skills will be put into action at future volunteer working bees at Murbpook, as well as other volunteer activities across the rest of the reserve network. The grant funding will also support a multi-day working bee at Mongolurring Nature Reserve in September focused on identifying and controlling African Boxthorn (Lycium ferocissimum), ensuring our volunteers are well-prepared for the tasks ahead.

Many thanks to Conservation Land Manager Kelsey Bennett for arranging and managing the workshops, to contractors Amanda and Petrina for running them, and most importantly, to our dedicated volunteers for their active participation in the training.

You can learn more about our volunteer program and register your interest here.

Photos by Kelsey Bennett.