Categories
Environmental Education Events

Wildflowers on the Ridgetops

We are very proud to launch a new booklet on the Wildflowers on the Ridgetops. This is an introduction to the wildflowers of Berowra Valley. Each plant is placed in a colour coded section.

Identifying the myriad of wildflowers is no easy task and this booklet will make the task easier for beginners and those who are already familiar with our beautiful bushland.

We will be selling the new booklet for only $10 at the Woodchop this Saturday 7th September 10am to 4pm at the Warrina Street Oval in Berowra.

Come along and enter our competition for Free to guess the number of Hawkesbury Sandstone in a jar and be in to win a beautiful, surprisingly realistic ringtail possum toy.

Categories
Environmental Education

Berowra Fauna Fair Photography Competition Winners

Thanks to all of those who entered the competition and to the prize winners who won a family entry to the Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park.

Also many thanks to the Hornsby Heights Camera Club for judging the competition and putting on a stunning display at the Berowra Fauna Fair.

Categories
Environmental Education Fauna Walks and Talks

Berowra Fauna Fair 2024

Friends of Berowra Valley, a community group committed to protecting our precious bushland and local environment, ran the Berowra Fauna Fair on Sunday 17th March from 10am to 3pm, at the Berowra Community and Cultural Facility (Berowra Community Centre).  With the support of Hornsby Shire Council we celebrated  the marvelous wildlife found in our bushland shire.

The Hornsby Heights Camera Club had an amazing selection of nature photography on display.  For more info on the results of the kid’s photography competition see https://www.friendsberowravalley.org.au/kids-photography-competition/.

Categories
Advocacy Environmental Education

Report Illegal MTB Trails in BVNP

If you see illegal mountain bike trails in a National Park then open up Google Maps on your phone, do a long press and this will create a Dropped Pin which shows the coordinates where you are. Share the pin with your email and also take a photo of the damage.

Create an email and include the GPS coordinates in the dropped pin and photo to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment and tell them that you are unhappy with the destruction you are witnessing.

https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/about-us/contact-us/environmentline

Or you can notify the NPWS directly on 1300 361 967

https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/conservation-and-heritage/care-for-parks/illegal-activities#how-we’re-combatting-illegal-activities

This sends a powerful message to NPWS and the state government that we are sick of seeing illegal MTB trails being created in healthy bushland. 

  • They destroy habitat
  • They cause erosion
  • They reduce biodiversity 

The email will help the one ranger that NPWS has allocated to the Berowra Valley National Park know where the trails are. If they have the resources and are working already in that area they can remove the MTB trails.

Categories
Bush Regeneration Environmental Education

How to Create a Wild Meadow

Have you ever thought about converting your lawn into a wild meadow?

Here are some very powerful reasons why you could consider this:

  • Native grasses and insects have co-evolved over millennia and they need each other to survive.
  • A healthy insect population means a healthy bird, amphibian, reptile and mammal population.
  • A meadow of native grasses frees you from relentless mowing, fertilising and applying pesticides.
  • Surrounding yourself with a healthy, diverse ecosystem will push back on the loss of precious habitat and the dramatic increase in threatened species currently threatening our biodiversity.
Categories
Advocacy Environmental Education

WWF Living Planet Report

This year’s edition is the most comprehensive finding to date and provides a platform for the best science, cutting-edge research and diverse voices on the impact of humans on the health of our Earth. More than 50 experts from academia, policy, international development and conservation organisations have contributed. WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022 shows the scale of the challenge – and highlights what we can do, both here in Australia and around the world, to change the way we live.

The future of the planet is in our hands.

Key findings from WWF’s Living Planet Report 2022 include:

  • Global wildlife populations fell by 69%, on average, between 1970 and 2018.
  • Australia continues to have the most mammal extinctions in the world. The report tells a disturbing story of continual decline of more than 1,100 wildlife populations in Australia due to pressures from climate change, habitat destruction and introduced predators.
  • Populations of sharks and rays have dropped by 71% worldwide over the last 50 years due to fishing practices.There has been a 64% reduction in Australian sea lion pups born each year in South and Western Australia.
  • Combined koala populations have plummeted by 50% over 20 years in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
  • Globally, landuse change is still the biggest current threat to nature, destroying or fragmenting the natural habitats of many plant and animal species on land, in freshwater and in our oceans.
  • If we cannot limit global warming to 1.5°C, climate change will likely become the dominant cause of biodiversity loss in the coming decades.
  • Australia must set strong nature laws, become a world leader in forest protection and climate action, and respect and acknowledge the stewardship of Indigenous Australians to care for Country. With the right conservation effort, commitment, investment and expertise, wildlife and wild places can be brought back from the brink.

The Living Planet Report includes the latest findings measured by the Living Planet Index, tracking 32,000 populations of 5,230 mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish from 1970-2018. This includes more than 1,100 populations in Australia.

Read the full report

Categories
Environmental Education Walks and Talks

The Great Southern Bioblitz

Friends of Berowra Valley ran a fun event as part of the Great Southern Bioblitz on Sunday 30th October. Around 25 citizen scientists recorded the amazing diversity of Stringybark Ridge, Pennant Hills using the iNaturalist app.

A combination of power users and people new to the app ensured that the beautiful surrounding area was recorded. Each of these observations is fed into the Australian Atlas of Living Australia. This massive database is an invaluable tool for scientists and researchers.

Check out some of the amazing biodiversity in our project for the Berowra Valley Catchment.

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/berowra-valley-catchment

For more info on iNaturalist.

https://www.friendsberowravalley.org.au/citizen-science-inaturalist/

Categories
Environmental Education

Can You Spot a Platypus?

Australian Conservation Foundation are running a project to try and spot Platypus.

Sign up to take part

Platypus are very elusive and Hornsby Shire Council, Friends of Berowra Valley, Still Creek Landcare and Streamwatch are applying for grant funding to do eDNA testing in creeks in the Hornsby Shire.

Categories
Advocacy Environmental Education

Do you know the threatened species in your electorate?

A collaboration between conservation scientists and interaction designers has resulted in a great website to help know about the threatened species in your electorate.

Check out this web app called Threatened Australians that identifies all of the threatened species in an electorate.

Berowra has 26 threatened animals and 36 threatened plants within its boundaries. Put pressure on your state MP Matt Kean and Federal MP Julian Leeser to ensure that there is a Recovery Plan in place.

Categories
Environmental Education Walks and Talks

Koala’s and Platypuses are Close By

The Friends of Berowra Valley ran a talk on the 7th May on our local koala population. Our speakers were volunteers associated with the local koala population initiative the Hornsby-Hills Rural Koala Project. They have been running an amazing program aimed at encouraging the health, protection and population increase of koalas in the Glenorie/Maroota/Arcadia/Hornsby areas.  With the help of camera traps and song meters they have been listening out for koalas.

We also heard from the Cattai Hills Environment Network on the local platypus eDNA testing at Cattai Creek.

Pat, Rae, Ken, Petra, Danielle, Karen, Lily, Benjamin and Brad all helped run this community event.

Danielle from the Cattai-Hills Environment Network

Pat from the Hornsby-Hills Rural Koala Project

Thanks to everyone to came, it was a great educational event including a cuppa and biscuits at the lovely Mt Colah Hall.