About

We acknowledge and respect the First Nations Traditional Owners, Custodians and Elders past, present and future of Ngurra – Country, and the South Lawson Park bushcare site. We are mindful and respectful of the presence of traditional places and objects on Ngurra and the bushcare site (Customary acknowledgement)

Welcome to Gundungurra Ngurra South Lawson Park Photo: P Ardill February 2024
Welcome to Gundungurra Ngurra South Lawson Park Photo: P Ardill February 2024

Welcome

Welcome to the South Lawson Park Bushcare Group website! On this website we describe and record the environmental features of the south Lawson area that we operate in, and the bushcare work that we do.

  • New members, including families, are welcome.
  • Children and young people must be accompanied by an adult for the duration of the bushcare session. Contact BMCC Bushcare Officer (see below).
  • Visitors who would like to observe a bushcare session are welcome.
Adelina Falls Lawson approximately 1885 Source: Charles Bayliss National Library Australia
Adelina Falls Lawson approximately 1885 Source: Charles Bayliss National Library Australia

When?

  • The Bushcare Group was formed in 1995 and has operated continuously since then.
  • We meet on the third Sunday of the month, 9.00am – 12 midday. Attendance at part of a session is fine. Contact BMCC Bushcare Officer.
  • A BMCC Bushcare Officer supervises each session.

Contacts

  1. Bushcare Officer: khising@bmcc.nsw.gov.au and 4780 5623
  2. Bushcare Office: 4780 5528
  3. Volunteer Coordinator: 4759 2058.

Where?

The location of each work session varies. Please check with the Bushcare Office (see Contacts) if you are not already on the mailing list.

Bushcare Officer pleased with progress! October 2019 Photo: H Coltman
Bushcare Officer pleased with progress! October 2019 Photo: H Coltman

The bushcare site is subject to the Gundungurra Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA). This is a 10-year, legally binding agreement—under the Native Title Act 1993—between the Gundungurra Traditional Owners and a number of land managers, including Blue Mountains City Council, that operate within the Gundungurra Native Title Application Area (BMCC, Lawson Enclosures, 2019).

Gundungurra community member David King at South Lawson Park Bushcare site January 2022 Photo: P Ardill, reproduced with permission of David King.
Gundungurra community member Uncle David King at South Lawson Park Bushcare site January 2022 Photo: P Ardill, reproduced with permission of David King.

The purpose of bushcare

Urban bushland, being part of broader natural ecosystems, has much to offer local residents and the Blue Mountains community.

  • Healthy bushland and streams help to ameliorate the detrimental environmental impacts thar arise from climate change. For example, well shaded streams provide a sanctuary for heat stressed indigenous aquatic and terrestrial animals. Dense, intact bushland annd swamps store carbon and contribute to the management of global warming.
  • Bushcare sustains the intrinsic value of natural environments: diversity of life forms, complex ecological functioning, knowledge, beauty.
  • A range of ecosystem services are nurtured by bushcare work: food provision; maintenance of clean water, healthy soil and unpolluted air; opportunities for recreational and cultural experiences.

However, bushland and swamps are constantly threatened by adverse impacts. At the South Lawson Park bushcare site, invasive weeds and erosive storm-water flows have destroyed much of the local bush and ecosystems. These problems can spread to the National Park, and threaten indigenous animal and plant diversity, healthy ecosystems and the World Heritage Area.

Therefore, a prime purpose of bushcare activity is to engage in environmental repair, by rehabilitating and restoring degraded natural areas. The South Lawson Park Bushcare Group works to restore and preserve the indigenous plants and animals of the Lawson Creek catchment. The group tackles weed and erosion issues before they develop into major problems that are very expensive to remediate, or even impossible to control.

Erst tackling the Privet July 2019 Photo: K Hising/BMCC

We also have a great time! Good company, exercise, new skills and rewarding experiences are readily available. (Photo: K Hising/BMCC)

To see a selection of the work that the South Lawson Park Bushcare Group undertakes, please take a look at our eight minute film, ‘Bushcare Blue Mountains: South Lawson Park’. Directed by Vera Hong of Seconds Minutes Hours Productions, the film has some stunning footage of the beautiful Lawson Creek catchment.

Bushcare Blue Mountains: South Lawson Park Image: V Hong 2017
Image: V Hong 2017
Twenty-five years Certificate of Appreciation Photo: K Hising/BMCC 2020
Photo: K Hising BMCC 2020

More information

Visit http://bushcarebluemountains.org.au and http://weedsbluemountains.org.au for further information about bushcare. The BMCC Bushcare Manual is available at https://www.bushcarebluemountains.org.au/resources/bushcare-manual_web/

Love Lawson Festival Nov 2009
Bushcare at the Love Lawson Festival, Nov 2009 Photo: BMCC

The members of the Bushcare Group work together as a team to achieve agreed environmental repair outcomes. Behaviour that constitutes or supports any form of discrimination, prejudice, harassment, intimidation, verbal, physical or sexual abuse is not welcome and is not tolerated (Page 8, BMCC Bushcare Manual).

Morning tea break! December 2017 Photo: K Hising/BMCC
Morning tea break! December 2017 Photo: K Hising/BMCC

(The South Lawson Park Bushcare Group website, including text and analysis, is managed by Peter Ardill. Australian Copyright Act 1968 applies. Text, media and all other contents of this site are subject to copyright. Many thanks to the members of South Lawson Park Bushcare Group, BMCC Bushcare Officer and Second Minutes Hours Productions for their contribution of images to this website)