Mt Gravatt Environment Group

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July 12, 2011

Fox Gully Finalist in Brisbane’s Spotless Suburbs

Posted by Mt Gravatt Environment Group under Fox Gully Bushcare, Mt Gravatt Environment Group | Tags: , , , , , |
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Fox Gully Bushcare is a finalist in the 2011 Keep Australia Beautiful – Spotless Suburbs Award.

Fox Gully Bushcare, located on the southern face of Mt Gravatt, is one of four communtiy bushcare groups working with Mt Gravat Environment Group on restoration of this unique pieces of Australian bushland.

Reaching the finals of the Brisbane’s Spotless Suburbs competition is recognition of the strength of our local community, the important role of sponsoring organisations and the quality of the BCC Habitat Brisbane program.

 

July 4, 2011

Smallest wasp builds biggest nest in forest?

Posted by Mt Gravatt Environment Group under Bushwalks, Mt Gravatt Environment Group, Wildlife of Mt Gravatt Reserve | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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Walking the Summit Track on Saturday I saw this extraordinary looking growth on the underside a branch high up in a Spotted Gum Corymbia citriodra.

Spotted Gums grow to 45m so this photo was taken at about x60 digital zoom on my Canon SX20. So viewing the photo later it looked like some sort of sculpture made of concrete and hung on a tree 30 or 40 metres in the air.

My excellent network of experts came to my rescue suggesting a wasp nest. Some more research on Google gave me the answer: Yellow Paper Wasp Ropalidia romandi . Links:  Queensland Museum Fact Sheet and Queensland Naturalists Club article.

I have photographed Yellow Paper Wasp for Flora & Fauna of Mt Gravatt Reserve however I did not realise that this tiny wasp: at 6-8mm it is the smallest of our local paper wasps, builds these huge paper nests. Up to 1 metre long these amazing sculptures are made up of multiple paper combs all wrapped in a paper skin.

I found this nest while researching our new self-guided Summit Track tail brochure. If you are walking the Summit track stop at Station 6 and look west-north-west for a large Spotted Gum then follow the trunk up to the branch growing out to the right. The nest looks like a concrete sculpture hanging under the branch.

You can see the Mt Gravatt Summit Track on MapMyWalk

Our new trail guide will be available early August ready for the Environmental & Photography Workshops. The guide will also be available online and copies available at a local BCC Library.

 

June 28, 2011

2011 Environmental & Photography Workshops – 7th August

Posted by Mt Gravatt Environment Group under Mt Gravatt Environment Group | Tags: , , |
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Please join us at the Fox Gully Bushcare site for our first Environmental & Photography Workshops.

Experienced Field Botanist and local photographer Alan Moore will combine to deliver an amazing bushland experience in on the Mountain.

Book early because early booking mean there are only six places left for the Photography Workshop.

This event is sponsored by Brisbane City Council Environmental Grant scheme.

Workshop flyer – 2011 Environmental & Photographic Workshops

Bookings:

Email – megoutlook@gmail.com or

Michael Fox 0408 769 405

 

June 21, 2011

Koala spotting near Gertrude Petty Place

Posted by Mt Gravatt Environment Group under Bushwalks, Gertrude Petty Place, Mt Gravatt Environment Group, Wildlife of Mt Gravatt Reserve | Tags: , , , |
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Thanks to park visitor Barry we have another confirmed Koala sighting near Gertrude Petty Place.

Can you spot the Koala? Scroll down.

Barry was a little embarrassed about the quality of his photo, however, given the height of our furry friend, I think this is a fantastic photo for someone using a mobile phone!

Well done Barry and thank you for passing this photo on with the location details. We are starting to build a wildlife sighting database for our Reserve, so we really appreciate information about sightings with location information and ideally digital photos which automatically give us date/time of sightings.

I was particularly pleased to receive this photo today and then find that today’s ABC Bush Telegraph program, was also about Koalas.

Given our efforts to protect and restore this unique bush habitat in middle of suburbia the segment on The history of Europeans and the koala was particularly interesting. The interview with Ann Moyal, author of new CSIRO science history book The Koala, had particular impact. Photos are an important part of our community education, so to visit the Bush Telegraph web page and see a photo of 3,600 Koala pelts loaded on a truck in Clermont district Queensland: in 1927!

Our Mt Gravatt Reserve was conservation protected in July 1893 and now, almost 120 years on, the forest is still recovering from logging.

 

April 12, 2011

Environment Minister shares Vision for Mt Gravatt

Posted by Mt Gravatt Environment Group under Mimosa Creek Precinct, Mt Gravatt Environment Group, Mt Gravatt Outlook Development, Wildlife of Mt Gravatt Reserve | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |
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Hon. Kate Jones, Minister for Environment and Resource Management joined us today at the Summit of Mt Gravatt to share our vision for restoration of this special part of our community.

L-R Hon. Kate Jones, Helen Schwencke, Michael Fox, Hon. Phil Reeves

Phil Reeves, local member and Minister for Child Safety and Minister for Sport joined myself and butterfly expert Helen Schwencke of Earthling Enterprises, hosted our Environment Minister.

Like most visitors Minister Jones was blown away by the beauty of the mountain which recalled her days of walking the eastern slopes of Mt Cootha as a child.

Our discussion covered everything from public toilets at the Summit, to habitat consolidation and wildlife corridors linking the Reserve with Mimosa Creek Precinct and Roly Chapman Reserve. The Minister asked about Koala sightings: Fox Gully and Rover Street Bushcare sites, also behind houses in Mountain Street. Also discussed were the species diversity with Echidnas and two hundred and fifty-four native plant species, as well as, the need for nest boxes to support Squirrel & Sugar Gliders in a forest with only a small proportion trees over one hundred years old.

The reality of flood recovery priorities means that government funds, for bushland restoration in the Reserve, will be limited in the short-term. However, Mt Gravatt Environment Group is currently revising our five-year Strategic Plan, so it was encouraging and valuable to be able to brief the Minister on our vision and plans for the Mountain habitat. The Minister was particularly impressed with our efforts to build relationships with Griffith University and corporate sponsors like ANZ Bank, which will help with some short-term projects.

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April 10, 2011

Vision for Restoration of Mt Gravatt Environment

Posted by Mt Gravatt Environment Group under Bushcare, Mt Gravatt Environment Group | Tags: , , , , , , , , , |
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Our Vision is the first step in revising the Mt Gravatt Environment Group’s Strategic Plan.

Mt Gravatt is the heart of a special community. Indigenous and European histories both have strong links with the mountain.  Although it has been farmed, harvested for timber and increasingly isolated by suburban development over one hundred years, the mountain still supports the most amazing diversity of plant and animal life.  This ecological and cultural landmark exists just ten kilometres from the CBD of the fastest growing city in Australia.

Restoring and strengthening the ecosystems of the mountain and its corridors, will have positive community and environmental outcomes, and is increasingly urgent as the population in the area grows.  Mt Gravatt Environment Group is already working to actively engage the whole community in consolidating healthy habitat areas and reducing habitat isolation with wildlife links.

Why a whole of community focus?

Wildlife does not recognise human created property boundaries or roads. Effective habitat consolidation and linking requires co-operation of a diverse range of property owners – private, corporate, local/state/federal government, community groups, schools and university. Therefore, a key part of our strategy is to identify investments in the environment that also deliver excellent community and business outcomes.

Mt Gravatt Envrionment Group

Please comment. How can we engage the community in this vision?

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March 28, 2011

Mimosa Creek Precinct Landscape Plan – ver 1.6

Posted by Mt Gravatt Environment Group under Bushcare, Bushwalks, Mimosa Creek Precinct, Mt Gravatt Environment Group | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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Mimosa Creek is beautiful crystal clear stream rising in Toohey Forest before it flows under the Pacific Motorway reappearing beside Klumpp Road, meandering through Roly Chapman Reserve where, if you are quiet, you will often see turtles.

Mimosa Creek Precinct is the reach between the Pacific Motorway and Clairvaux MacKillop College, also including three potential wildlife corridors connecting with Mt Gravatt Reserve.

In developing the Mimosa Creek Precinct Landscape Plan, Mt Gravatt Environment Group aims to provide a community focused approach to environmental restoration of this important habitat with a variety of owners including BCC, Main Roads Dept, Translink, Hibiscus Sport Centre (local & state government), community organisations, schools and private owners. The term Landscape Plan comes from the excellent Birds in Backyards – Best Practice Guidelines, and is used to encompass this complex ownership mix.

Download the plan here: Mimosa Creek Precinct Landscape Plan – ver 1.6 (web) It does not take long to read: it is mostly Google Earth pictures. Appendix PDF files: Roly Chapman Bushcare Plan – ver 1.5 Fox Gully Bushcare Plan 2011 – ver 3.6 Mt Gravatt Strategic Plan – ver1.0

The environment is the key focus of this Plan, however, building and maintaining long-term financial and community commitment requires identification of business opportunities and community benefits derived from habitat restoration.

We have already identified a number of direct community benefits from implementation of the Landscape Plan. Identifying business opportunities that directly contribute to restoration of Mimosa Creek Precinct, is not as obvious. However, to quote Peter Drucker:

“Every single social and global issue of our day is a business opportunity in disguise.”

BizEd july/august 2008

Read the Fox Gully blog post Business Goes Bush in Mt Gravatt.

What community and business opportunities can you identify?

 

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