Landcare funding win

Blackwood Environment Society has been handed a win, with the Bridgetown-Greenbushes Shire Council renewing funding of its landcare officer position.

At the July council meeting, it was given funding of $42,366 for the provision of community landcare services.

One of the group’s projects is the restoration of a block of land on Layman Street in Bridgetown by a group of volunteers called the Helping Hands.

Co-ordinated by community landcare officer Cheryl Hamence, the planting has been under way for four years, starting at the creek at the bottom of the block and expanding towards the Layman Street boundary of the block.

Part of the project has been the establishment of a hakea seed orchard in 2018 and the planting of native understorey plants.

Ms Hamence said motion sensors had detected the presence of introduced species including cats, rabbits and foxes and the planting aimed to protect native wildlife.

“People like to get involved in things that will benefit the local wildlife — flora and fauna — we have a lot of cockatoos and parrots come here,” she said.

Ms Hamence praised the volunteers who had worked on the project.

“If we didn’t have the volunteers, the helping hands volunteers, it wouldn’t have happened,” she said.

“We are just really lucky that we’ve got this really dedicated bunch of local people who are happy to come and play around in the dirt with me.”