Students Learn Nursery Skills Through Landcare

Friday, March 3, 2007

The Port Macquarie Landcare Nursery has welcomed on board a team of TAFE students providing them with hands-on work experience to complement their conservation and land management studies.

The project is part of an important on-going partnership between Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, Mid Coast Group Training, Wesley Employment and the local Bunyah and Birpai Aboriginal Land Councils.

The students are currently studying Certificate II and III Conservation and Land Management at Port Macquarie TAFE.

They have joined four land management trainees, Amos Donovan, Nathan Riley, Mathew Wright and Sam Dungay, who are employed to maintain and regenerate the catchment area surrounding the Port Macquarie Dam. Their work includes removing noxious weeds, identifying plant and animal species, native send collection and propagation.

With the assistance of Estelle Gough, propagation officer with Port Macquarie Landcare, the group will learn how to identify plant species, take cuttings, propagate native species and nursery techniques such as watering, potting and pest control.

"This is a great opportunity for the students to extend their skills base and is mutually beneficial as the nursery is run by volunteers," Water and Natural Resources project officer Kim Freeman said.

"Estelle has created a Landcare nursery that now produces 80 species of native plants on the Propagation Species List for groups carrying out environmental restoration projects."

To date, the nursery has propagated at least 30,000 plants including several hundred for Council's riverbank restoration project at Comboyne. Another 4000 special riparian revegetation plants will be grown for a catchment project at Rollands Plains.