NEWS ARCHIVE

“This Week by the Creek” is an eNewsletter from our partners at the Brisbane City Council Creek Catchments Program. It contains information and updates about creek activities and events across Brisbane, training opportunities and grants that are available  The August...

The last few weeks have seen a significant increase in the size of the Grey-headed flying fox colonies along Enoggera Creek at both Riaweena Street, The Gap, and Banks Street Reserve, Ashgrove. The new arrivals are believed to have come from Victoria and New South...

Thanks to BCC Habitat Brisbane and contractors Brisbane Bushcare, a large low-lying area of Walton Bridge Reserve has been planted with native species. The area adjoining the Rita Huggins Monument on the east side of the creek has repeatedly scoured in...

Perhaps the easiest local plant to propagate is the Black Bean Castanospermum australe. Pick up one of the huge beans and throw it into the bushes. Done. After that you can float a few beans in their pod down the creek to propagate a more downstream. Native...

“This Week by the Creek” is an eNewsletter from our partners at the Brisbane City Council Creek Catchments Program. It contains information and updates about creek activities and events across Brisbane, training opportunities and grants that are available  The June...

Originating in India, Mysore Thorn Caesalpinia decapetala is an invasive weed throughout Australia. It forms stands along roadsides and creeks and invades disturbed sub-tropical rainforests like we have along Enoggera Creek. A small specimen was found at Walton Bridge...

SOWN members are invited to collect a free copy of the reference book "Weeds of Southern Queensland" produced by the Weed Society of Queensland. The welcome donation of 100 copies of the book comes from Queensland Rail through Glenn Withers (former Ithaca...

In March 2023, the Walton Bridge bushcare group welcomed Wirrinyah First Nations Conservation Services who were engaged to clear debris, fallen trees and vines at the junction of Enoggera and Fish Creeks which had been damaged in the 2022 flood events....

The rarely seen and critically endangered plant Native Guava Rhodomyrtus psidioides was recorded at SOWN's February 2023 Walk The Creek event. Project Botanist Rob Price found 3 specimens of the plant which is one of the Myrtaceae family. He said Rhodomyrtus...

Please join SOWN for Clean Up Australia Day along beautiful Enoggera Creek. As usual we will have two clean up options - picking up rubbish/ plastics or weeding along the creek. Date: Sunday 5 March, 8 am - 10 am Place: Alfred and Lucina Best Park, Payne Road...

The bushcare work and environmental enthusiasm of Marion Goward and Aidan Ameer have been recognised by a joint Green Heart Award at the recent Lord Mayor's Australia Day awards ceremony. Marion has been actively involved in bushcare in many parts of South East...

While weeding his bush block early in the new year, long-term SOWN member Wayne Briscoe stumbled across a ground cover growing profusely on the rocky hillside. As a keen bushcare volunteer, Wayne recognised the plant as one of the Commelinaceae family but...

Be part of this citizen science project and help add to the list of 52 butterfly species identified so far in the Banks Street Reserve. Join Cliff Meyer and Jutta Godwin from Brisbane’s Big Butterfly Count and Chris Galbraith from SOWN for this informative butterfly...

About 50 SOWN members and friends gathered at the SOWN Nursery on Saturday 3 December for the annual general meeting and end-of-year celebration. Outgoing president Renee McGlashan presented a 40-page report SOWN A Year in Review 2022. Read the highlights of...

The SOWN stall at The Gap Twilight Markets on 26 November was an opportunity to wish many locals a merry Christmas including local State member for Cooper Jonty Bush MP who dropped in to say hello. It was also an opportunity to inform our community about...

At the 2022 SOWN annual general meeting outgoing president Renée McGlashan presented a 40-page report SOWN: A Year in Review providing a detailed snapshot of SOWN's activities, challenges and achievements in 2022. A PDF of the review can be downloaded here....

The Brisbane Big Butterfly Count Spring survey in Banks Street Bushland Reserve had been postponed till November 19th when the weather (and the butterflies as it turned out) were much better. The 70 attendees included many with a lot of butterfly knowledge,...

Take 39 keen 9 and 10-year-old students undertaking environmental studies as part of their curriculum, 4 teachers, 10 SOWN and catchment volunteers and a bushland reserve with an abundance of natural interest, and the scene is set for a great day of learning...

Three Mile Scrub – Quandong Bushcare Group has shared their experiences at Banks Street Reserve on erosion control and flood resilience using vegetation. Before the group began rehabilitating the banks of Enoggera Creek, the dominant species at their site...

Habitat Brisbane is looking for someone to take over as Habitat Brisbane Group Leader of the Michaela Crescent Bushcare Site on the bank of Fish Creek at The Gap. SOWN President Renee McGlashan paid tribute to Gail and Ray Norval who officially retired as...

SOWN is calling on members to report infestations of Cat's Claw Creeper Dolichandra unguis-cati which has recently flowered. Local heavy infestations of Cat's Claw Creeper can be detected by observing the flowering plants in tree tops.The bright yellow...

For the fourth year running, the Brisbane City Council’s Creek Neighbours program has been inspiring kindy children and their families to become stewards of their local creek catchment. The Gap Early Childhood Centre celebrated its annual ‘Meet your Creek’...

The Taylor Range Club has transformed a weedy bank on Enoggera Creek into an amazing space for their members with a little help from SOWN,  Habitat Brisbane and the Queen. SOWN supported the Taylor Range Club in securing a grant from the "Planting Trees for...

It was great for SOWN to be part of the 2022 EcoForum organised by State MP for Cooper Jonty Bush. We made connections with other local community groups and enjoyed the opportunity to educate people on the different weeds we encounter and how to deal with...

It was fantastic to welcome back long-term corporate supporters of ours – LendLease. We’ve conducted several corporate activity days with them in the past and this year they came back for more. LendLease staff took part in both weeding and planting...

Join Brisbane’s Big Butterfly Count for the first butterfly survey of the summer on Saturday 19 November 9 am till 11 am. The event is at Banks Street Reserve which is considered a very important Brisbane butterfly site according to event organiser Chris...

Speaking at a SOWN seminar in October, Dr John Dwyer from the University of Queensland encouraged bushcarers to conduct experiments to get the best out of our bushcare sites. John said one important reason to gather evidence through experimentation was to...

Brisbane City Council is seeking feedback on the draft Mt Coot-tha Reserve Mountain Bike Concept Plan. Delivering the Mt Coot-tha Reserve Mountain Bike Concept Plan is a key action of the Brisbane Off-Road Cycling Strategy which is a city-wide strategy...

An era has ended with Dick Harding and John Abbott from SOWN collecting the last load of native plants from the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre (AGCC) nursery on 8 September 2022. SOWN has operated a very successful nursery partnership with AGCC for 12...

Banks Street Bushland Reserve recently hosted a group of 17 tertiary students keen to research means of improving the environmental and ecological resilience of natural areas surrounded by urban development. Head of the School of Civil and Environmental...

Recently at the end of August SOWN was invited to a meeting of Ashgrove-The Gap Lions Club to present to their members all about SOWN and the events we carry out to engage with the community. The Gap-Ashgrove Lions have helped support SOWN with barbecues for...

Eighty community members volunteered to plant 1700 native plants on the banks of Fish Creek at Wittonga Park in The Gap on Sunday 21 August 2022. SOWN President Renée McGlashan congratulated the Wittonga Park Bushcare group leaders Natalie Costanzo,...

Restoration Celebration After a two-year break it’s time to once again join like-minded people from across the city to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of volunteers in protecting and restoring Brisbane's biodiversity. Catch up and share ideas over a cooked...

Members are advised that limited Lomandra sp. will be available from 3 September 2022. SOWN Nursery will have both Lomandra longifolia and Lomandra hystrix available from the start of September. There will be a limit of one tray or a total of 60...

Held on 21 June, the Brisbane Biodiversity Seminar "Microbats of Brisbane" provided an excellent introduction to these elusive mammals. The first speaker was Jasmine Vink, an ecologist, bat rehabilitator with Bat Conservation and Rescue Qld (BCRQ) and...

Entries are closing at the end of August 2022 for the Queensland Conservation Council's second Saving Wild Homes art competition. The competition is being run in support of the Queensland Conservation Council’s campaign, Double It for Nature. The campaign...

Yes, the state of the environment is grim, but you can make a difference, right in your own neighbourhood The newly released State of the Environment report paints a predictably grim picture. Species are in decline, ecosystems are at breaking point, and...

Thanks to everyone who helped out at the Yoorala Street planting on 9 July. SOWN president Renée McGlashan said more than 100 community members volunteered to plant 3,000 native species. “Thank you to everyone who came along. We were pleased that newly elected Member...

Membership of Save Our Waterways Now is due for renewal on 1 July every year. Membership fees are as follows: Individual: $25.00 Family: $35.00 Community Group: $50.00 School: $100.00 Concession: $20.00  (Pensioners, Seniors & Students) Paying by Bank Transfer For...

Ferny Forest is a 130-hectare forest part of the Beerwah State Forest, between Steve Irwin Way and Ewan Maddock Dam. It is due to be declared a national park in 2024. In the meantime, the State government has proposed to selectively log native tree species...

If you love being a bushcare volunteer, it's time to take the next step and become the leader of a bushcare site. Established more than 20 years ago, Royal Parade Bushcare Site is on the north bank of Enoggera Creek, downstream of the Gresham Street Bridge...

SOWN has begun mapping all the remnant rainforest plants in The Gap using the app iNaturalist during stage one of a project to preserve our endangered rainforest. Starting near the base of Enoggera Reservoir the SOWN volunteers, assisted by Habitat Brisbane...

In August 2021, as the Caldor Fire burned more than 200,000 acres in northern California, satellites captured the dramatic changes to the landscape in real time. That satellite data fed into a new Google tool, called Dynamic World, which recognized that an...

Do you love coffee and plants? Or need something to do on the last weekend of the holidays? This is a great event where everyone is welcome. In collaboration with Brisbane City Council and Healthy Land and Water, we are hosting a huge community planting events and...

SOWN has operated a very successful nursery partnership with the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre (AGCC) for over 10 years. For all of that time, Kobus Havenga has been our nursery supervisor and main support person at the prison. The SOWN-AGCC...

Brisbane City Council again hosted a wonder session in their latest ‘Brisbane Biodiversity Seminar’. Always a great place to learn, this latest session on 5 April was no exception with the them on ‘Journey into our Indigenous Past and Present’. There was a...