As part of a Transport and City Services Adopt-a-Park grant, Southern ACT Catchment Group has organised three Grass Identification Workshops to help urban landcare volunteers understand and identify grass species in their local patch. The first workshop was open to SACTCG members of urban landcare groups and took place at the Bonython Community Hub on Sunday the 18th October.
Alison Elvin from Natural Capital Pty Ltd ran the workshop and shared her deep and wide knowledge of grasses and grassland ecosystems with us. It was a wonderful day of learning and cramming our brains with fascinating grass-related information from Alison.
There were about 20 attendees from urban landcare groups (groups on TCCS Land) including Holder Wetlands, Hughes Grassy Woodland, Griffith Woodlands Volunteer Group, Minders about Simpsons Hill, Tuggeranong Lake Carers and the Croton Park Carers. Together, Alison took us through the value and function of native grasslands, the impacts of disturbance, integrated weed management and grass species identification information.
We will be hosting two more workshops which are field based. The first will take place on the 8th November to look at C4 (warm season) grasses and the second to take place on the 7th March to look at C3 (cool season) grasses. If you’re a member of an urban landcare group in Southern ACT, stay tuned or get in touch for more information about future workshops.
Thank you to Alison Elvin for sharing with us her time and endless expertise.
I am interested in learning more about local grasses. Is there any plan to re run workshops on this? (April 2022)