I have been working each month in this reserve for the last five years, mostly on the time consuming task of removing privet on the reserve’s margins, so that the rainforest plants can regenerate.
My companions in this task are tireless and very dedicated people who have been doing this work for much longer than I have. I’ve learnt a great deal about the plants by working with them. We have also had great assistance this year from our NSW National Parks and Wildlife officer, Jacqueline, pictured here with some of our volunteers.
We have finally started to notice some of the plants coming back along the margin, the ‘early colonisers’, which will provide some cover for the slower growing plants which follow. When weeding, the challenge is to remove weeds, but not the young seedlings of the beautiful rainforest trees, which grow up among them.
One of the first to come back is the Solanum aviculare, Kangaroo Apple, pictured here. I have made several images of this plant, shown on my website.
