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Archived News Items from 2014


03 December 2014:    Weeding effort summary updated to end of November

The weeding effort for the first five months of the 2014-15 weeding season has been summarised. The total effort for the season to date is 28% less than that for the same period last season (42% less for the Reserve only). Effort on the Reserve was 68% of the total effort.

The main weed types on which effort was spent in November were (in order, largest effort first) St. John's wort, Saffron thistles, Paterson's curse, and Verbascum, while for the season to date they have been Saffron thistles, the grouping of Thistles other than Saffron thistles, Paterson's curse, St. John's wort, miscellaneous Broadleaf weeds and Verbascum.

See the weeding effort page and associated links to maps and charts for more details.


16 November 2014:    Summary of weeding effort for July to October

The series of monthly reports on weeding effort for the season have commenced for 2014-15. Total effort is down30% on last season, partly because of decreased prevalence of many of the regular weed targets and partly because of unavailability of some of the members of the weeding team. The main weeds treated so far this season have been Thistles, primarily Saffron thistles, which we are continuing to try to get on top of, but also Slender thistles, which have increased in prevalence this season.

For full details, see weeding effort for 2014-15.


14 November 2014:    25 Years of ACT ParkCare and Landcare Video

A brief (7 minute) video featuring members of ParkCare groups and Rangers has been produced and can now be viewed on YouTube. As well as providing a brief background to ParkCare, it features members discussing the various approached to and rewards from ParkCare activities. Worth a look to see what other groups have been up to.


24 September 2014:    Spring Walks Program

Our annual Spring walks program has just been finalised and kicks off on 19th October. It includes a reprise of two very popular walks from Autumn, namely an indigenous heritage walk led Wally and Tyronne Bell of the Ngunawal people, and a walk led by PCS Ranger and Assistant Parkcare Coordinator Craig Wainwright delving into historical land use as well as present day management of the Reserve. And of course there is the ever-popular bird walk led by John Brannan.

For more details, see What's on or the walks poster [ pdf 1.1 MB].


 

11 September 2014:    Photo Competition to Celebrate 25 Years of ParkCare and Landcare in the ACT

Celebrating 25 years of ParkCare and Landcare in the ACT is about recognising the places we've come to love and look after, the details of nature that create a sense of wonder and the people associated with this important social and environmental movement. What better way to celebrate and promote 25 years of ParkCare than to have a photo competition? The top ten photos will create a roving display with the intent of capturing and inspiring a future generation of ACT ParkCarers and Landcarers.

For more information, see: Competition Announcement [ pdf 241 kB], Competition Rules [pdf 406 kB] and Competition Entry Form [doc 24 kB].

Deadline for entries: 30 Sep 2014


20 August 2014:    fotpin Newsletter #6

After a lapse of a couple of years, the fotpin newsletter is back reinvigorated under the editorial oversight of Elizabeth Smith. The theme for this month's newsletter is Autumn walks at the Pinnacle. It contains descriptions of three very diverse guided walks at the Pinnacle Nature Reserve this Autumn: a Bird Walk; an Indigenous Heritage Walk; and a European Heritage Walk, which are prefaced by an overview of the delights of Autumn at the Pinnacle.


13 August 2014:    Report on the Native Grass Regeneration Project

Don Driscoll presented a summary of the results of the "Grass Experiment", as it's better known, at the fotpin AGM in July. Because many were unable to attend, or would just like to review it again, a self-explanatory version of the presentation can be viewed on the website.

 


27 July 2014:    fotpin elects its fifth Coordinating Committee

The 4th fotpin AGM was held on Sunday 20 July at the Weetangera Primary School. The meeting was attended by 17 people including 13 members and 2 representatives from the ACT Parks & Conservation Service.

The business part of the meeting was preceded by a presentation of the results after three years of fotpin's Native Grass Regeneration Project "Defeating the Weed Menace" by its leader Don Driscoll. A brief summary of his talk is included in the Minutes of the AGM which may be accessed from the link below, and a more detailed summary is on the latest results page.

A full complement of Coordinating Committee members was elected, as follows:

  • Convenor: Vaughn Cox (Pax)
  • Coordinator: John Brannan
  • Secretary: Carolynne Parker
  • Treasurer: Warren Bond
  • Ordinary members: Denise Hall, Elizabeth Smith, Keith Thomas

For draft Minutes of the meeting and and the annual Financial Statement presented to the meeting, see the governance page.

 


17 July 2014:    Summary and analysis of the 2013-2014 weeding season

Thank you to all the fotpin members who gave their time and effort to controlling weeds on the Pinnacle Nature Reserve in the season past; there are definite signs that we are making progress, which the analysis of the weeding effort data collected allows us to explore. In a few weeks' time, an analysis of the whole four seasons of weeding effort and chemical usage data will be presented which allows an even better view of where we are making progress and where we are not.

Effort for the 2013-2014 weeding season was 1215 hours, only 10 hours less than last season. However, more effort was spent controlling weeds in the Reserve this season (876 hours, an increase of 20%), with less effort being spent in the neighbouring paddocks.

The effort required to maintain effective control of most weed types decreased this season, which is hopefully a sign that our control measures are having an impact, although climatic factors cannot be ruled out. Examples of these include Verbascum, Thistles other than Saffron Thistles and Horehound.

One weed type that is not showing signs that we are controlling it is Saffron thistles. This weed type absorbed a worrying 26% of our total effort this past season and we have yet to see a lasting effect of this effort.

The 2013-2014 page summarises the weed effort and briefly compares the effort spent on different weed types, in different paddocks, and using different weed control methods, comparing these across our four seasons of records. Pages containing more detailed data can be reached by links that are included in appropriate places in the summary page, as well as in a list at the bottom of that page and in the menu at the top of all weeding pages. The information on those detailed pages includes:

These different ways of viewing the effort data all contribute to analysing the progress of our weed control and helping to plan our control in future seasons for maximum effect.

 


05 June 2014:    Weeding effort summary updated to end of May

The weeding effort for the first 11 months of the 2013-14 weeding season has been summarised. Effort for May was 137 hours (the busiest May we've had), and the total effort for the season to the end of May was 1183 hours. 73% of the season's effort so far (140 hours more than last season) was spent on the Reserve.

The main weed type consuming our time in May was Saffron thistles (65 hours, 48% of total effort for the month). Other weeds treated were miscellaneous Broadleaf weeds (mostly Fleabane and Flat weed) (27 hours), Paterson's curse (23 hours), Thistles other than Saffron thistles (8 hours), African lovegrass (6 hours) and Nightshade (5 hours).

See the weeding effort page and associated links to maps and charts for more details.

 


02 June 2014:    Annual Kangaroo Survey 2014 Results

Thanks very much to everyone who turned out on Sunday to assist in the annual count of the kangaroo population on the Pinnacle Nature Reserve and neighbouring paddocks. Conditions were at times quite miserable with scattered light showers and the temperature hovering around 10 degrees, but this didn't deter our enthusiastic participants in this important annual event. As usual, we conducted a morning and afternoon count, and as usual the results were quite close. The preliminary results posted here yesterday have now been finalised and are: morning: 763; afternoon: 780, giving an average of 772 and a difference between the two counts of only 2.2%. This is the closest the morning and afternoon counts have ever been in our 4 years of counting.

This year's count is identical to the average count of 772 obtained in May 2011, before any culling, and higher than the count in August 2013 (after the annual cull) of 650.

Thanks to Mel, Claire and Natasha from the Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate of the ACT Government for their expert and patient assistance with the count once more.

For more information see the brief description of the count with a few photos, and a summary of our count history and results on the kangaroos web page.


31 May 2014:    2011-13 Program Report from ACT Conservation and Research

It was brought to fotpin's attention the other day that this report is available from their website. A copy is also on our website: ACT Conservation and Planning Research Program Report 2011-13 pdf 3.8 MB ].

The ACT's Conservation Planning and Research unit provides science and research evidence within government to inform environmental conservation, policy, planning and management. This includes legislative requirements under the Nature Conservation Act 1980 and the Planning and Development Act 2007.

This report summarises 57 projects spanning all of the elements of the unit; flora, fauna, aquatic ecology and conservation planning. It includes summaries of projects being carried out, in part, on the Pinnacle Nature Reserve, such as reptile monitoring (page 39), and assessing the grazing pressure of kangaroos (page 38).


04 May 2014:    Weeding effort summary updated to end of April

The weeding effort for the first ten months of the 2013-14 weeding season has been summarised. The total effort for the season to the end of April was 1046 hours, 72% of it spent on the Reserve (48 hours more than last season).

The main weed types consuming our time in April were Paterson's curse (33 h), Briars (23 h), St. John's wort (21 h), Verbascum (16 h) and Thistles other than Saffron thistles (16 h).

The main weed types on which effort has been spent so far this season are (in order, largest effort first) Saffron thistles, St. John's wort, Paterson's curse, Verbascum, Briars and miscellaneous Broadleaf weeds. These six weed types have accounted for 83% of our effort.

See the weeding effort page and associated links to maps and charts for more details.

 


24 April 2014:    Weeding effort exceeds 1000 hours for 2013-14 season

Yesterday (April 23rd) fotpin's weed control effort for the 2013-14 season reached 1002 hours. This is the third season in a row that we have exceeded 1000 hours (with the season before that only just missing out with 943 hours). The total weeding effort since we began keeping records in July 2010 is now more than 4500 hours. And this season isn't over yet!

Congratulations and thank you to all our fotpin weeders.

See the weeding effort page and associated links to maps and charts for more details of this season's effort up to the end of March. Figures for the period to the end of April will be updated in about 2 weeks' time.

 


10 April 2014:    Weeding effort summary updated to end of March

The weeding effort for the first nine months of the 2013-14 weeding season has been summarised. The total effort for the season to date is 6% less than for last season, although a larger amount of effort has been spent on the Reserve than last season.

The main weed types on which effort has been spent so far this season are (in order, largest effort first) Saffron thistles, St. John's wort, Verbascum, Paterson's curse, Briars and miscellaneous Broadleaf weeds. These six weed types have accounted for 95% of our effort.

See the weeding effort page and associated links to maps and charts for more details.

 


22 March 2014:    Autumn Walks Program

Our annual Autumn walks program is still being finalised, but it kicks off on Sunday 6 April with John Brannan's bird walk. Details of the remaining walks are currently being finalised. They will include a walk led by two local aboriginal leaders, Wally and Tyronne Bell, and a walk led by PCS ranger and Assistant Parkcare Coordinator Craig Wainwright.

Keep watching our news headlines for details as they become available.

 


04 March 2014:    Weeding effort summary updated to end of February

Our weeding effort has been summarised for the first eight months of the 2013-14 weeding season. The total effort for the season to date is 5% less than for last season, although a larger amount of effort has been spent on the Reserve than last season.

February was a relatively quiet weeding month, most weeds having already been treated and few new weeds appearing or being dead or dying as a result of the very dry conditions (there having been less than 40 mm of rain in the 3 months to mid-February).

The greatest effort in February (32 hours; 55%) was spent on Briars, most of which were still growing vigorously enough to respond to herbicide treatment. The remaining 55% of February's effort was spread across 10 different weed types.

See the weeding effort page and associated links to maps and charts for more details.

 


04 February 2014:    Weeding effort summary updated to end of January

The weeding effort for the first seven months of the 2013-14 weeding season has been summarised. The total effort for the season to date is almost exactly the same as for last season, although a larger amount of effort has been spent on the Reserve than last season.

The main weed types on which effort was spent in January were (in order, largest effort first) Saffron thistles, Briars, Verbascum, and other thistles, while for the season to date they have been Saffron thistles, St. John's wort, Verbascum, Paterson's curse, Briars and miscellaneous Broadleaf weeds.

See the weeding effort page and associated links to maps and charts for more details.

 


18 January 2014:    Visual evidence of a reduction in Verbascum

One of fotpin's target weeds for many years has been Verbascum. We have spent many hours over several years lopping and bagging seed heads and grubbing rosettes. For the last two years there has also been an intensive spraying campaign.

We are now starting to see signs of a reduced level of infestation. While mostly that is based on memory, there is one place where we can assess the reduction in Verbascum by photographic evidence. The contrast between the original photo in December 2007 and photos taken in 2013 is stark. This provides evidence that we are indeed winning the battle for control of Verbascum on the Reserve.

 


17 January 2014:    Vegetation condition improves on The Pinnacle Nature Reserve

Towards the end of 2013 the Conservation Planning and Research, Natural Policy Branch of ACT Environment and Sustainable Development, in conjunction with members of fotpin, carried out a survey vegetation condition, including the occurrence of rare plants, for The Pinnacle Nature Reserve. This was part of a larger survey across the ACT.

Comparison of the condition survey with one carried out using the same methodology in 2003 showed an improvement in overall condition. A total of seven rare plant species have been identified to be present on the Reserve.

See the vegetation condition page for more information including maps of the condition in 2003 and 2013 and details of the changes observed.

 


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