Restoring Eurobodalla's dunes to pristine condition

Council has kicked off a three-year beach weeds project that has the potential to restore the region’s dunes to almost pristine condition.

Working with local Landcare groups, members of Council’s environment team will walk every beach in Eurobodalla to map seven identified environmental weeds using a GPS unit, with the aim of eradicating these weeds before they become naturalised.

According to Council’s Environmental Services Manager Deb Lenson, the vegetation on Eurobodalla dunes is in great condition compared to more populated areas, but she says the threat from environmental weeds is mounting as pressure from urbanisation increases and government funding is channelled toward noxious weed control such as bitou bush and lantana.

‘We are in a unique position to act now and restore our dune system to a nearly pristine condition,’ Ms Lenson said, ‘and we’d love to see residents get involved with their local Landcare group to help us with this important work.’

‘Eurobodalla beaches are in far better condition than much of the NSW coast, but allowed to go unchecked, these environmental weeds would significantly reduce the condition of our dunes.’

‘Every Eurobodalla beach will be inspected over the next three years, allowing us to eradicate many of the identified weeds before they become naturalised.’

Ms Lenson warned that once a weed is naturalised it can only realistically be controlled rather than eradicated.

Some of the target species will include coastal gladiolus, marram grass, sea spurge, African pelargonium and invasive daisy species such as gazania, beach daisy and African daisy.

The project will also include replacing weed species with native dune species. Ms Lenson says one of the target species, marram grass, was deliberately planted as a beach erosion stabiliser in the seventies and eighties. ‘It is mainly confined to beach entrances and has not yet become naturalised, and we’ll replace it with a native dune grass,’ she said.

The GPS data gathered from the beach inspections will be uploaded to Council’s mapping system and become a resource for Council staff and volunteers to effectively treat problem areas and return for follow up control of any resprouting weeds.

For more information about the beach weeds project or how you can help, please contact Council’s environment team on 02 4474 1000.

This project has been funded by Council and the NSW Environmental Trust Restoration and Rehabilitation grant program.