Port Macquarie Landcare Group (Incorporated) is an active organisation of volunteers dedicated to improving the land and related environments within our area of responsibility. We are based in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia.
We aim to contribute to ecosystem restoration of urban bushland, waterways, coastal and marine environments, increase community awareness and foster liaisons with like-minded organisations. This is a particularly important role because our region with its warm summers, very mild winters and excellent rainfall, hosts a vast range of vulnerable native plants and plant communities, including many native orchids, as well as birds and numerous other native animals.
Our membership includes volunteers from various backgrounds with a wide range of experience and expertise. A beginner interested in contributing to the environment can happily work beside an experienced landcarer with years of experience and multiple tertiary qualifications.
In addition to more than 20 environmental restoration projects we operate a large, semi-automated nursery dedicated to raising native plants from seeds collected in this region. We are thus the regional genetic repository for native vegetation. Our nursery provides seedlings to our projects, to Port Macquarie Hastings Council and other government bodies and to both urban and rural landholders. Noting the cost advantage conferred by our all-volunteer workforce we do not compete with commercial nurseries.
Longer term, the human population increase is expected to continue in this region, at the same time that Climate Change is likely to bring more extreme weather events, and rising sea levels. An environment with healthy native ecosystems will provide some degree of resilience and provide carbon storage services in the face of these changes.
We resist exclusively short-term objectives. Based on our performance to date we are optimistic that Port Macquarie Landcare will remain viable and engaged as these events unfold over the years ahead.
