Conservation trip to Mornington Peninsula

Posted by Ruby Albury (Biological Society) on 14 August 2013

Biological Society calls it stumps after 4 days of removing invasive trees from the Mornington Peninsula National Park

How can it be possible to live out your suppressed desire to be an axe-murderer, enjoy beautiful Australian landscapes AND feel all warm and fuzzy about doing something practical to help the environment? It may seem odd to some that the Biological Society ran a 4-day camp over the mid-year break that was mostly about death and destruction, but that’s exactly what we did!

Twenty-three dedicated (and spectacularly fun) volunteers spent some of their break helping Parks Victoria rangers restore the beautiful Mornington Peninsula National Park, out among the grass trees and kangaroos. Chopping down pesky invasive trees is a surprisingly good workout, and makes evenings lazing about an open fireplace roasting marshmallows oh-so-much-more satisfying! And somehow everyone still had enough energy to form alliances and blood feuds over board games and twister. And more energy still to venture out after dark for some spotlighting shenanigans, which I won’t lie, mostly resulted in moth sightings as they flew at our torches. Some squealing ensued.

Our work wasn’t ALL about death and destruction, however! We spent a day strolling through the bush spotting and recording koalas in Coolart Reserve as part of a monitoring program, and worked to prevent sand dune erosion at a prominent surf beach.

If you are ever in need of a little outdoors therapy, and hands-on conservation with some awesome like-minded people, hit up a Biological Society BBQ to hear about our next trip, or visit the Biological Society Club Profile for links to Facebook and upcoming events.