If you see sick or dead birds or other wildlife, do not touch them. Avoid direct contact. Record what you see. Report it to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.
Ranger Diary by Conservation Ranger Tyler Wilkie
A weed blitz by Rangers from the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority has helped to remove invasive coastal Tea Tree from dunes around Apollo Bay.
Rangers from Torquay, Lorne, and Apollo Bay worked on the weed blitz at Wild Dog in Apollo Bay over three days in June.
This area had a large amount of Coast Tea Tree and it required all hands-on deck to remove as much of it as possible in a few days.
Coast Tea Tree is an environmental weed that doesn’t naturally occur in the bioregion of Otway Ranges and has become highly invasive.
It poses a threat to native plants such as coast beard heath (Leucopogon parviflorus), knobby club rush (Ficinia nodosa), pig face (Carpobrotus), and white correa (Correa alba).
The weed blitz will help to restore native vegetation, provide habitat for native fauna, mitigate erosion and enhance biodiversity.
The area will be revegetated with indigenous and native species.
Ensuring sand dunes are restored and maintained in their strongest natural state is essential for the coastal environment.
The removed tea tree was mulched and repurposed for revegetation projects throughout the area.