Earlier this year, Blue Mountains City Council was recognised with a National Local Government Award in the ‘Innovation in Natural Resource Management’ category for its role as the lead player in the ‘Save our Swamps’ project.
The project is an integrated strategy comprising the following:
- an on ground swamp remediation program
- community awareness raising program
- community engagement, education and on ground
volunteering program - school education program
- private landholders incentive program
- capacity building program for agency staff and community
groups.
In the five years since its inception, the project has: lead to over 30 hectares of Blue Mountains swamp undergoing bush regeneration; protected over 50 hectares of vulnerable downslope Blue Mountains swamp areas; treated some
600 metres of channelled swamp with soft engineering swamp rehydration structures; and planted 11,825 endemic swamp plants.
In addition two and a half kilometers of tracks impacting negatively on the swamp communities have been either closed and rehabilitated or stabilised with soil conservation works.
Partnerships, initially with Lithgow City Council protecting Newnes Plateau Shrub Swamps, and subsequently with WIngecarribee Shire Council and Gosford City Council, has seen the campaign model widely adopted on a regional scale.
Blue Mountains City Council has acted as the lead agency in building the capacity of partner councils to deliver high quality conservation and restoration outcomes protecting the temperate highland peat swamp systems and their associated threatened species across almost the entire region.
To find out more about the campaign visit the website at www.saveourswamps.com
