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Community Nurseries – Powering on ground action for Landcare

Clayton Bay Nursery

On Tuesday the 30th March 2021, former Executive Officer, Jim Mead visited the friendly folk at Clayton Bay Natural Environment Group and Nursery for their weekly working bee and morning tea.

What a welcome! The good-natured banter pinging around the table at the Clayton Bay Nursery was infectious! The group’s weekly working bees bring the community together to propagate native species for local revegetation projects. There is also an orchard and vegetable garden on site which is carefully tended by group members. The nursery site also houses a Southern Bell Frog recovery project in partnership with Flinders University. The tadpoles of this endangered species hatch in the specially designed shed and when grown to maturity, are transferred to caged frog ponds surrounded by native grasses. Clayton Bay Natural Environment group members feed the tadpoles and frogs, in both the shed and ponds.

Several group members expressed the importance of the group in providing social connection and what that has meant for them personally and for the local community. The impact of Landcare and environmental activities on participant’s health and wellbeing has long been known, but is often difficult to measure, other than via anecdotal evidence.

The Clayton Bay Natural Environment group has recently been growing seedlings for the Lucindale/Avenue Range/Blackford Bushfire recovery project. The seedlings they grow will help landowners impacted by the summer bushfires to replace burnt shelter belts and habitat on their properties. A planting week is scheduled for the 24th and 25th July 2021 in Lucindale and many Clayton Bay group members indicated their enthusiasm to be involved!