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Bushcare Principles A nest box at the Davis Street site
Our work is guided by the following principles. Local is best The plants that will do best in the inner west are those that have adapted to its microclimates and soils, so we source seed from bush remnants within 5km of the Hawthorne Canal whenever possible. When we can’t, we try to source seed from a site within the catchment that has conditions similar to the site we are revegetating. Do it for the animals We want to attract animals back into the inner west and help them roam, so we try to create places where they can forage, nest, and avoid predators. Primarily, we plant species to attract small birds and manage the sites in ways that supports the corridor’s colony of long-nosed bandicoots. We like to keep the sites “messy” by leaving about piles of debris and leaf litter, fallen branches, old sheets of tin, railway sleepers, and building rubble because these provide good habitat.  Fallen branches provide habitat for insects and lizards.
Making weeds work for us
When managing bushcare sites to protect and promote fauna, we sometimes leave thickets of lantana and green cestrum untouched for months or years. We do this to ensure that small native birds and animals can hide from predators and bullies, like the noisy miners, until the native species we have planted can provide adequate protection. Get connected The best way to ensure birds and animals fill the corridor is to give them pathways to roam and colonise new pockets of bushland, so we connect sites to create wildlife corridors. Our vision is for wildlife to move freely along a chain of bushcare sites linked by native plantings in parks, streets and private yards. Make friends with the neighbours We want to spread the bushcare love beyond our sites and invite private landholders and councils to get in on the act by going native too. The more natives that are planted in the corridor and its catchment, the better it is for native birds and animals. Less is more We try not to bite off more than we can chew. It is better to have only a few sites that can be maintained to a high level than many sites that are overrun by weeds. We aim to control and consolidate a site or portion of a site before expanding. Come back soon It can take up to five years to fully establish a site, but if neglected weeds can rapidly take over. We aim to work each site every two weeks to break the seeding cycle of many of the worst weeds. |