Earthcare Park Landcare

Ms JENNY AITCHISON (Maitland—Minister for Roads, and Minister for Regional Transport)—Congratulations to Earthcare Park Landcare who are celebrating 30 years of tireless environmental stewardship over 32 hectares of Tenambit Common. To mark this milestone, the group is calling on the community to lend a hand from 9am to 2pm Saturday May 10, for an open day and planting event. With 4,000 native grass plants ready to go into the ground, it will be all hands on deck. These grasses are not just plants - they are lifelines for the 136 bird species now recorded in the park, up from just 39 a decade ago. The seeds and foliage of these grasses provide essential food and nesting materials for both native and migratory birds. This major planting initiative builds on the group's incredible legacy of planting some 60,000 trees in the park over the last three decades. I thank Earthcare Park Landcare Group President Eric Huber and the tireless efforts of volunteers in helping protect this vital habitat for the last 30 years and I encourage all local residents to join in this weekend's efforts.