HRLN held its first working bee with volunteers at Greta Central Park this month. Greta Central; during the session, we discovered a beautiful patch of donkey orchids, Diuris punctata.
The Park has been recognised for its conservation value as Lower Hunter Spotted Gum Ironbark Forest, similar to the Hunter River Reserve. Cessnock Council has received funding to regenerate this area and has asked HRLN to get involved in the community participation component of the project. Large pines are being removed from the site as you will see by the remaining stumps. We tackled plenty of weed species- African olive, small leaf privet, lantana, ochna, bridal creeper. Majority of the weeds have been brought in by birds as they occur under the large spotted gums. If you would like to join us in the coming months, contact Stacy at lowerhunterlandcare@gmail.com