The Australian Government: Sydney Harbour Federation Trust. The Trust.

Harbour Trust: The Trust

Environmental Management

The Harbour Trust is dedicated to protecting and preserving the natural environment on its sites.

These sites contain some rare species of flora, including Bangalay (Eucalyptus botryoides), Coastal Banksia (Banksia integrifolia), Sydney Red Gum (Angophora costata) and Sydney Peppermint (Eucalyptus piperita).

These sites are also home for many rare and endangered animals, including long-nosed bandicoots, water dragons, blue tongue lizards, brush tail and ring tail possums, water rats, echidnas, kookaburras and rainbow lorikeets.

Find out more about how the Harbour Trust is managing the natural environment below.

 

Environmental Management Topics

 

 

Bush Regeneration Work

 

The Harbour Trust has several sites of pristine and rare vegetation. Urban development and activities over the past 200 years has resulted in many disturbances to this bushland. Weeds have invaded many areas as a result of disturbance, landfill and altered drainage patterns with Crofton Weed, Lantana, Asparagus Fern and Morning Glory particularly evident.

Harbour Trust Bush Regeneration VolunteersBush regeneration volunteers at work, February 2005

Through a variety of bush regeneration programs and activities, the Harbour Trust is addressing this issue. Two dedicated volunteer teams have been established at Georges Heights-Middle Head and in the grounds of the former School of Artillery, North Head.

What is Bush Regeneration?

Bush regeneration is defined by the Australian Association of Bush Regenerators (AABR) as ‘the practice of restoring bushland by focusing on reinstating and reinforcing the system’s ongoing natural regeneration processes’.

In practice, bush regeneration consists of carrying out works in degraded areas of bushland, which reverse degrading impacts and allow natural regeneration and on-site generation of local species to occur. It is typically associated with urban and urban fringe bushland, maintenance of public reserves, transport corridors and walking tracks.

Bush Regeneration Strategies

There are many strategies that may be used to regenerate bushland. The Bradley sisters developed the first documented method in 1971 that adopted a philosophy of controlled weeding without replanting. This approach has been gradually altered to include activities other than the removal of weeds, such as:

  • Local seed collection, propagation and selected planting
  • Replanting native species lost from the bush or no longer germinating naturally
  • Planting of native species better suited to a particular area, such as species that may provide resistance to fire, or certain conditions and diseases
  • Works to reverse the biophysical factors that result in ecosystem degradation, such as improvement of stormwater condition, prevention of soil erosion or stabilisation of drainage lines
Can I get involved?

Yes! You can volunteer to join one of the Harbour Trust's two programs that aim to return Sydney's beautiful headlands to their natural condition.

Click here to find out more about volunteering.

 

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Tree Planting Days

National Tree Day 2005Volunteers at National Tree Day, 2005

As part of the Harbour Trust's rehabilitation and regeneration of its sites, tree planting programs have been implemented in the landscaping phase of a range of projects at Middle Head, Georges Heights, and Woolwich Dock and Parklands.

Tree planting involves the re-introduction of native species of tress, shrubs and ground covers to an area that has either been stripped of vegetation, or altered considerably through the course of human activity.

National Tree Day

For National Tree Day 2005, the Harbour Trust registered its new walking track between Georges Heights Oval and Rawson Park as a tree planting site. Over 25 local residents turned out on to assist in the planting of native species along the length of the track.

National Tree Day is an initiative of Planet Ark: www.planetark.com

 

 

 

 

 

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Sydney Harbour Dieback Working Group

Who is the Sydney Harbour Dieback Working Group?

The Sydney Harbour Dieback Working Group is a network of land management agencies focusing on the management of vegetation dieback on the lower North Shore of Sydney Harbour including:

    Tree Injecting Program at Middle HeadA tree injecting initiative has begun on Middle Head
  • Manly Council
  • Mosman Council
  • North Sydney Council
  • Willoughby Council
  • Taronga Zoo
  • Sydney Harbour Federation Trust
  • Sydney Harbour National Park (DEC / NPWS)
  • Dept of Defence (HMAS Penguin)

The Working Group is advised by the Botanic Gardens Trust and the University of Sydney, and actively supported by the Sydney Coastal Council Group.

What does the Working Group do?

The Goal of the Working Group is to protect bushland in the Sydney Harbour region by minimising the risk of the spread and impact of Phytophthora cinnamomi.

The Working Group intends to achieve this goal by:

  1. Implementing Phytophthora management procedures that will minimise the risk of private and public land management activities and operations introducing and spreading Phytophthora cinnamomi.
  2. To ensure all development activities that have the potential to spread Phytophthora cinnamomi into bushland areas use appropriate Phytophthora Dieback management procedures.
  3. Create awareness in the people and provide appropriate levels of information to the community on matters relating to Phytophthora cinnamomi and encourage residents and other land managers to undertake appropriate actions to protect lands from Phytophthora cinnamomi.
  4. Promote cooperation, teamwork and sharing of information between the agencies and land managers in this group, in order to further these objectives

 

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Dieback Forum 2005 - Management of Dieback in Sydney Harbour Bushland

 

The Sydney Harbour Dieback Working Group held a half-day seminar on Sunday 24 July 2005 to update interested stakeholders on the initiatives and outcomes to date coming from the previous forum in 2003, titled: “Phytophthora cinnamomi: Killer in the Bush”.

Over 40 attendees heard presentations from a range of guest speakers, culminating in a site visit to Middle Head.

To view the Agenda from the day, click here (PDF, 71kb )

Presentations

Six presentations were made throughout the day. For your convenience, these presentations have been made available to download as follows:

Presenter Presentation
Peter Jensen
Sydney Harbour Federation Trust		 Presentation - PDF 137kb
Prof Brett Summerell
Botanic Garden Trust		 Presentation - PDF 2Mb
Judith Rawling
Urban Bushland Management Consultants		 Presentation - PDF 105kb
Prof David Guest & Dr Rose Daniel
University of Sydney		 Presentation - PDF 1.8Mb
Ms Sue Halmagyi
Volunteer, Sydney Harbour Federation Trust		 Presentation - PDF 1.2Mb
John Grady
Mosman Council		 Presentation - PDF 2Mb

 

Draft - Best Practice Guidelines

The Sydney Harbour Dieback Working Group is preparing draft best practice guidelines to assist in the coordinated management of Phytophthora cinnamomi (Pc) and dieback in the Dieback Working Group area, including guidelines for Pc hygiene, soil sampling, tree injection with Potassium phosphonate, track construction, and monitoring. Public feedback is welcome on the draft guidelines.

To download the Draft Best Practice Guidelines, click here (PDF, 260kb ).

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Phytophthora cinnamomi management

The Harbour Trust is committed to minimising the spread of the Phytophthora cinnamomi on its lands.

A Middle Head tree suffering from dieback
What is Phytophthora cinnamomi?

Phytophthora cinnamomi (pronounced phy-toph-thora) is a water mould that thrives in warm moist soils and attacks the roots of susceptible plants. It causes roots to rot, making them unable to absorb water and nutrients. This may lead to dieback and death. Dieback simply means dying plants.

What is the Harbour Trust doing?

In 2003, the Harbour Trust brought together a working group of landowners and experts in the field to share their knowledge and experience in the control of Phytophthora.

The working group has held two major forums, and is currently working on best practice guidelines for the management of Phytophthora.

A brochure has been produced to explain what Phytophthora is, how it spreads and what we can all do to help stop the spread.

Click here to download the brochure (PDF, 122kb ). Hard copies of the brochure are available by phoning (02) 8969 2100.

How can you help minimise the spread of Phytophthora cinnamomi?

All visitors to the bushlands around Sydney harbour foreshores are encouraged to enjoy the views and help to protect these important pieces of urban bushland by:

  • remaining on dedicated walking tracks at all times;
  • not removing any soil, plants or rocks from the bushland;
  • remove any soil from clothes or shoes before you enter and leave the bush; and
  • if possible, disinfect shoes with a spray of household disinfectant.

 

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"Be a Bush Friendly Neighbour" Program

The Harbour Trust is a supporter of the 'Be a Bush Friendly Neighbour' Program, a joint initiative of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Manly Council, Mosman Councils, the NSW Fire Brigade and the Harbour Trust.

Brochure and Poster

This brochure gives tips on being a Bush Friendly Neighbour - what plants to grow, responsible pet care, conserving water, using 'friendly' pesticides and fertilisers, and reducing fire hazards.

You can phone the Harbour Trust for a hardcopy of this brochure on (02) 8969 2100, or download the brochure and/or a poster.

Click here to download the Bush Friendly Neighbour brochure (PDF, 876kb ).

Click here To download a poster (PDF, 600kb ).

 

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