This year Landcare SJ was able to secure funding for a project to protect native vegetation within the Paul Robinson Reserve. The Paul Robinson Reserve sits within the Serpentine Sports Reserve and is utilised by the Serpentine Pony Club as part of their cross-country course. It is estimated the grounds have 10,000 visits by equine enthusiasts each year.
A section of the Reserve has the remains of old horse yards which were very much degraded and a potential danger for horses and riders using the course. It was proposed that a section of the yards be removed, the area fenced off either side of the riding track to protect remnant bushland and the degraded areas be revegetated.
Members of the Serpentine Pony Club and Serpentine Polo Club volunteered to remove the worst section of the old yards, clearing the way for a fencing contractor to install two fences financed through project funding. The new fences have now been installed along either side of the track to both improve rider safety and protect precious bushland containing Declared Rare Flora.
The Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale covered the cost of feral animal control and weed control within the Reserve. Volunteers from the Serpentine Environmental Group (SEG) planted and guarded over 350 native seedlings in the degraded area now protected within the new fence. The native seedlings were guarded and mulched and will be watered by SEG to increase seedling success through the first summer. At the completion of the project a morning tea was held, catered for by the SJ Food and Farm Alliance, to thank the funding body with a representative attending from Andrew Hastie’s office and all the volunteers that worked so hard to make the project a success.
Landcare SJ will be seeking further funding to complete Stage 2 of the project to remove the remaining section of yards, install an additional barrier fence and complete on-ground revegetation works.
This project was supported by the Australian Governments Stronger Communities Programme – Round 7.