Jackie Miles
Take two informative walks through the different types of rainforest which exist at Narooma – the Wagonga Inlet Littoral Rainforest and the Box Cutting Rainforest with Botanist, Jackie Miles. Learn to identify the native rainforest plants and the threatening weeds. Land Services Officer, Peter Gow will be discussing a range of weed control techniques.
When: 10am – 3pm, Tuesday 19 April
Where: 10am –12 Ringlands Point Littoral Rainforest, 12–1pm Lunch at Quarterdeck Park, Riverside Drive, Narooma (BYO lunch or purchase something from the Boatshed Cafes), 1pm-3pm Box Cutting Rainforest, Kianga Rd, North Narooma.
Bookings: Peter Gow on 4475 1001 or peter.gow@lls.nsw.gov.au
Littoral Rainforest on the Far South Coast
Littoral Rainforest is listed as an Endangered Ecological Community (EEC) under both NSW State (Threatened Species Conservation Act) and Commonwealth (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act) legislation, due largely to clearing and the threat to remaining stands from weeds, feral animals such as deer, fire and the activities of people (track creation, littering, plant collection, soil disturbance etc). Other less obvious threats include the loss of critical fauna elements from the ecosystem, that are needed for pollination or seed dispersal (e.g. cassowaries in north Queensland, which are the only dispersal agents for some large-fruited tree species), and the introduction of plant pathogens such as the recently arrived South American myrtle rust.
The Importance of Fungi
Giant bolete
Fungi specialist, Teresa Van Der Heul, will point out some amazing fungi which are present in these ecosystems.
“Fungi are vastly underappreciated, yet without them our world would not be the same. They are nature’s recyclers turning dead wood and plant material such as lignum and cellulose, back into individual components to be reabsorbed by living organisms including humans….. neither we nor our ecosystem can survive without fungi.”
