Parklands extend a warm thank you to the Rotary Club of Albury North for providing 4,000 native grasses and weed mats to enhance habitat on Gateway Island.

As well as sponsoring the project, ten Rotarians from the club turned out on Saturday 17th June to plant the grasses along the Mega-fauna trail.

The grasses themselves serve a number of functions in the park. Foremost is that of providing habitat for native species. The diversity of bird and reptile species inhabiting these grass and groundcover planted areas demonstrates the need for restoration of all layers of native vegetation.

They also improve amenity and diversity for users of the trail, replace weeds and annual grasses and significantly reduce maintenance requirements. Mowing time around Gateway Island has halved since similar grassed areas were established along the popular river trail.

The recycled materials used in these weed mats minimise ongoing maintenance and ensure success with the restoration of the groundcover layer at Gateway Island Regional Park.

The Rotary planting morning was made all the easier by the timely receipt of a brand new set of Pottiputki tools, courtesy of a volunteer grant. Thank you to the Australian Government for these funds, which enabled Rotarians and Rangers to plant more than 1600 grass seedlings in only two hours. The new tools replace pottiputkis which had planted nearly half a million seedlings and undergone many repair jobs in their 24 years of service. Tough tools!