Invasive weeds being removed from site

Work will start this week to remove invasive weeds and minor regrowth from parts of the 62-hectare Birkdale Community Precinct that are outside the approximately 40-hectare conservation area.

This is part of Council’s stewardship commitment to undertake environmental and land management to best practice within the precinct at 390 Old Cleveland Road East at Birkdale, informed by expert advice.

A recent ecological study by consultancy group Cardno identified weed species that needed to be removed including self-sown slash pines which were spreading on the precinct to the detriment of its natural habitat.

Vegetation maintenance work on the precinct, such as the weed removal, is guided by an independently commissioned site-specific Ecological Assessment Report and supporting land management plan.

Cardno Senior Principal (Ecology) David Wassman said the slash pine trees, which are native to south-eastern USA and regarded as environmental weeds in Queensland, needed to be removed.

“If left to spread across the site they can take over and potentially outcompete the native species,” Mr Wassman said, adding that most of the pines were growing outside of the precinct’s identified Conservation areas which covers approximately 40 hectares or roughly two-thirds of the site.

“Once removed, the area they were in can be used for beneficial purposes for the community. And then there is a lot of the effort to be done in terms of rehabilitation and conservation in the remainder of the site.

“In the Conservation areas you have to control weeds, enhance the native vegetation that is there and ultimately get increased flora diversity, meaning a better habitat for fauna.”

Work is expected to be ongoing into April.

Mr Wassman and Ranger Stacey explain more in this video.