Boosting Biodiversity at North Ridge Reserve
Project Type: Bush regeneration
Project Location: Cooma North Ridge Reserve
Funding: NSW Government’s Environmental Trust Grant
This project is supported by Snowy Monaro Regional Council and North Ridge Reserve Bushcare with funding assistance from the NSW Government through its Environmental Trust.
About the project
A five-year project (2026-2030) funded by the NSW Government’s Environmental Trust is underway in North Ridge Reserve to help restore habitats for its flora and fauna. Strategic bush regeneration works are being integrated with cultural burns for improved biodiversity and cultural outcomes
These works, coupled with a campaign to encourage residents to remove woody weeds from our neighbouring gardens, will support existing works being undertaken by North Ridge Reserve Bushcare and Cooma Landcare.
Over the five-year project period, bush regeneration contractors will be removing both woody weed and herbaceous weed, focusing on priority areas, including follow-up treatments to help the sites stabilise against weed.
Cultural burns will be carried out in some of these areas in each of three autumns or winters by Merrimans Local Aboriginal Land Council, supported by NSW Fire and Rescue. These will incorporate burn piles to assist with the regeneration of Eucalypts and other species.
Photo left: The red-fruited ornamental Cotoneaster and Pyracantha planted in suburban gardens are highly attractive to Currawongs that spread the plants into the Reserve. Removing these from both the Reserve and gardens is important to restoring nature’s balance.
Photo right: Eucalypt recruitment is somewhat rare in the Reserve, with native pines increasing in density. Fairly hot pile burns will be incorporated into some of the burn areas in an effort to foster more eucalypt recruitment, as occurred in this pile burnt in 2021.
Current works by volunteers and Council
For the last five years, a volunteer Bushcare group has been systematically removing Pyracantha from bushland.
Some valuable planting and weeding have been undertaken by Cooma Landcare, and strategic spot spraying has been completed by Council contractors (with Crown Lands funding) and volunteers.
Above: One example of some of the work by Council and volunteers at South Gate. On the left, African love grass before (2020). On the right, regeneration after three seasons.
Opportunities to volunteer
North Ridge Reserve Bushcare holds monthly working bees to cut down Cotoneaster shrubs and dab the cut stumps with herbicide. Follow-up treatment of seedling regrowth using a knapsack sprayer is carried out by another set of volunteers. Removal of the debris to the tip is kindly carried out by a team from Corrective Services.
The Bushcare group post monthly updates on the Friends of North Ridge Reserve Facebook page.