Our first Community Workshop was held at the Peregian Community House this month. It was a free Urban Wildlife Garden Workshop for Noosa’s coastal foreshore neighbourhoods, organised in partnership with Noosa Council.
The rain once again prevented us from running the event in Victory Park, but luckily Melissa from Council had organised a backup plan and we relocated to the Peregian Community House. Despite the weather many Peregian locals, as well as some from further afield, turned up to learn about the benefits of using native plants in urban gardens to create habitat for local wildlife.
Melissa Coyle, Noosa Council Environment Officer, welcomed everyone and introduced them to the volunteers from council and UWG at the different information desks.
UWG committee members, Tony, Kay, Keron and Vanessa, answered questions about the UWG program. We shared information about how to provide habitat, food and water resources in the garden to attract wildlife.
Shaun’s ‘Designing Native Habitat’ desk was in high demand. He spoke to property owners about their gardens and helped them consider factors such as garden size, aspect and soil type to plan their own wildlife garden.
The ‘Local Native Plant ID and Information’ station was attended by Sarah who had plenty of ideas to share with people about local native species which are suited to the local conditions. She also helped them choose some of the free plants to take home.
UWG Program Coordinator Michelle was there to help people identify environmental weeds and provide information about how to manage and replace them with native species. She also talked about the garden visits she makes to new UWG members to provide information and advice.
Paul Sprecher, Council Land for Wildlife Officer, was available to talk to people about the Land for Wildlife Program and how habitat can be created in any garden. Michael Lyons, Council Environmental Operations Coordinator, answered questions about a wide range of environmental issues. He provided information on habitat creation and protection and the discussed the damage that can be done to our bushland areas by weeds and invasive species escaping from gardens or being deliberately dumped as garden waste.
Attendees left with plenty of free resources, garden design advice, information and plants to get them started on their own urban wildlife gardens.
Vanessa Presling
