Just before Easter our regular Mt Nelson Bushcare volunteers shared their patch of bush with a bunch of like-minded people from JMG, a 60-year-old engineering firm with its roots firmly planted in Hobart.
They were working through open bush that belongs to Hobart College and which needed a strong band of weeders to find and eliminate gorse seedlings.
It was detailed work, requiring focus and patience to pick out the small, hard, spikey gorse seedlings from the native cranberry that also makes its home in the land just above the college.
Alice Curtain, pictured above, is part of a new environmental committee at JMG and says it’s a chance for staff to make a real difference to the city they work in.
"We're an engineering consultancy and work on all sorts of projects, including roads, subdivisions, TasWater projects and new pipelines," says Alice.
"As a large engineering firm in Tasmania we think it's good to give back to the community we work for.
"Tasmania has such an incredible environment that needs greater care and stewardship, and we want to try and make as much difference as we can.
"It's so nice to be out in nature, and it's really good to actually just do something as a group."
Mt Nelson Bushcare convenor Vivian Fujiura weeding out gorse.Picking up the Bushcare baton
Vivian Fujiura is the current convenor of the Mt Nelson Bushcare group, which has been caring for Mt Nelson/Kriwalayti bushland for more than 20 years.
She says previous convenor, Greg Kidd, who took over from Andrew Hingston in 2011, did such a great job building up the group and securing the essential tools of the trade - secateurs, loppers, dabbers, a first aid kit and gloves - that volunteers just need to turn up and get straight down into the weeds.
The group is a member of the City of Hobart’s Bushcare program and Landcare Tasmania, allowing volunteers to work on both state-owned and council owned land.
Twenty years of work is evident in the healthy state of the bushland, where most of the time the group is in maintenance mode and able to respond to new and emerging threats.
Vivian took over the convenor role from Greg, known for his generosity and patience with new volunteers and a stalwart of the Bushcare community for more than 20 years.
"Greg has been a great leader and organiser, making it easy for all us volunteers to just turn up to weed, get down and dirty and socialise without any hassle. Nigel Rogers also regularly supported Greg in the role," says Vivian.
"Sadly, Greg retired recently due to ill health and handed all those resources and history over to me.
"This means I get out into the bush a lot more these days to plan for weeding sessions. It's great to get familiar with the local plant communities and see the bigger picture. We live in a lovely area - come and join Bushcare!"
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