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2002 (c) Peninsula Community Access Newspaper Inc

 

Tree planted as memorial

 

The Melaleuca Wetland Regeneration Group Woy Woy has planted a swamp mahogany tree as a memorial to the work done by the late Kathy Gissane.

Kathy worked to restore this site from 1996 until her death in August last year.

The Melaleuca Wetland Regeneration Group has been working since June 15, 1996, on a two-hectare (five-acre) site that has been classified as Sydney Coastal Estuary Swamp Forest Complex and is a protected area.

This swamp forest complex includes significant species including swamp mahogany (eucalyptus robusta) and broad-leafed melaleuca (melaleuca quinquinervia).

The site is the sole remnant of a melaleuca wetland on the Woy Woy Peninsula that once stretched to Umina Beach.

Some of the problems faced by the group include:

Dumping of rubbish. The area was used as a dumping ground. Some offenders were put to work clearing the rubbish out and now the site has a much lower rubbish problem.

Needles from drug users.

Vandalism from bicycle tracks and jumps. Now that a proper bike track with jumps has been built near the area, this type of vandalism has decreased.

Weed infestation from camphor laurel and other species.

Fluctuating group membership. The group is always on the look out for new members.

The area is home to a wide variety of fauna including bower birds, frogs, snakes, water rats, eels, long-necked tortoises, many birds and occasionally a colony of nesting sacred ibis.

CCCEN newsletter and Heather McKenzie, August 7