Many expert hands make light work at Casuarina Coastal Reserve
Volunteer collaboration in Casuarina Coastal Reserve leads to positive outcomes for important coastal habitat on Darwin’s coastline. The Ivy Gourd (Coccinia grandis) survey managed by Dave Liddle and the Casuarina Coastal Reserve Adopt a Spot volunteers has attracted a range of expert volunteers all keen to help out in hot and sweaty conditions.
Many hands made light work during a weed survey in Casuarina Coastal Reserve on the weekend.
Coordinated by Dave Liddle and the Casuarina Coastal Reserve Adopt a Spot volunteers, the survey assessed the infestation of a weed called Ivy Gourd (Coccinia grandis). The Adopt a Spot team usually target outlying areas of Gamba Grass infestation within Casuarina Coastal Reserve, but over the last couple of years the volunteers have been so successful that they are now able to turn their efforts to other weed species. While Ivy Gourd isn't one of the NT's worst weeds, it is a fast-growing vine with the potential to smother the monsoon forests that are such a feature of this stunning part of Darwin’s coastline.
With a volunteer turnout that included the Adopt a Spot team as well as members of the Casuarina Coastal Reserve Landcare Group, the Litchfield Weedwalkers, the NT Herbarium and environment students from CDU, there were many expert and hard-working hands happy to help out on a hot and sweaty morning. The team has another survey coming up shortly and the information collected during both events will be used to plan Ivy Gourd removal by volunteers at Casuarina Coastal Reserve.
All of us here at NT Parks and Wildlife are proud to work alongside our volunteers. The successful project undertaken by Dave and the ‘spotters’ is a great example of how community collaboration results in fantastic outcomes for the special places that we all know and love so well.
To find out more about volunteer groups that are based in NT Parks and Reserves head to the Northern Territory Government website.
