Friends of Venus Bay Peninsula has closed as an incorporated group from November 2020. This website will remain live until the end of August 2021 and we encourage you to download any information that you wish to keep.
Saltmarsh revegetation of bird hide and jetty area, Anderson Inlet Bird Hide/Saltmarsh 2017 – 2020
Coastcare Victoria provided the funding for this project five years ago and the revegetation of this site has continued this year with the help of all the hard-working volunteers. Some of these were familiar faces as well as several new folks. There have been two community planting days in 2017 with a noticeable improvement; the recently added plants combining with established areas of vegetation. We have planted at least five to six hundred plants in 2017!
The site has been a problematic place to re-vegetate due to compaction by vehicles when it was a car park. Added to this the salt marsh underneath has been destroyed by gravel, cement and all manner of detritus dumped on top and during high tides the area is often inundated (not all plants enjoy the salty water) and it is a very exposed area. There is human traffic through the planting area and kangaroos nibble the new plants as well.
Despite all this, over the five years of planting by the many people who have contributed, there has been a tremendous change to this beautiful area on the Tarwin river with the revegetation now beginning to blend into the surrounding salt marsh. The site continues to be maintained for weed control and damage done due to a number of factors. The plantings are expanding into some underdeveloped areas and hopefully will be enhanced with natural revegetation. This is intended to happen gradually into the future.
There is no better affirmation than to see all the little birds; Flame Robins, Yellow-rumped Thornbills, White-fronted Chats, Willie Wagtails to name but a few, hopping happily about in and out of the protective vegetation.
