RAINFOREST RESTORATION - ALL YOU NEED IS A PLACE TO START

Restoration is like baking a cake: you need a recipe, some basic ingredients and a willingness to listen, observe, and learn. No-one makes a cake right first try, right? Join Ecologist Bill Peel for a workshop on rainforest restoration and a tour of his home's rainforest restoration project. Learn about how to approach rainforest restoration in the Bellingen climate.

This workshop will include:

- A tour of a pre-regen site at the Point on the Bellinger River

- A tour of a home restoration project that hosts many rare and threatened species of plants and animals, some of which are breeding there; and

- Handouts: listing restoration and weed manuals, books on plant identification, propagation, and local contacts.

Learn the basic toolkit to begin YOUR PROJECT:

o What plants;
o Staging: planting sequences, seasons and the right plants;
o When and where to plant;
o Where to obtain your plants (propagate or buy);
o How and when to weed;
o How to manage it so you succeed and enjoy the restoration;
o Project ideas for all budgets and sites; and
o Measuring success

ABOUT OUR PROJECT: It began in 2014 as a Camphor Laurel forest with a privet understorey; on an ephemeral tributary of Connell Creek. Now a thriving ecosystem it hosts over 300 plant species (180 are self- regenerating), 147 birds recorded (50 birds breeding), 18 reptiles, 12 mammals, 10 frogs, and innumerable butterflies invertebrates and fungi. The project protects and provides habitat for: o 2 nationally threatened ecological communities o 7 threatened plants; o 1 threatened mammal; and o 30 migratory birds. AND IT IS ONLY 0.2 OF A HECTARE!

This tour accommodates a maximum of 15 people - so bookings are essential.

Meet 1pm Sunday 22nd September at The Point, James Eather Drive, Bellingen.