Bega River and Wetlands Landcare Group - BRAWL

September 2025 working bee
2025-09-01 09:30 - 12:30 (Australia/Sydney) | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
For this bee we’ll be heading back to Site 2 (the old bamboo site) to care for our December 2023 plantings and prepare the area for next month’s tree planting. We’ll also be tackling weed control—targeting turkey rhubarb, privet, hemlock, and some madeira vine that’s recently been spotted on the site.
This site has come a long way over the past decade and a half. With bamboo finally under control, we’re starting to see strong growth from our plantings and a real shift in the site’s recovery.
📍 Working Bee Details:
When: Monday 1st September, 9.30-12.30pm
What: Planting maintenance, weeding, preparing the site for tree planting next month.
Where: Site 2 (meet at the picnic tables at main river reserve – cnr Auckland St & Jacksonia Gr – look for the BRAWL flag).
Bring: Drink bottle, garden gloves, secateurs, weed bags, weeding tools (some tools will be provided), and your usual enthusiasm!
Wear: Enclosed sturdy footwear, sun hat and sun-smart clothing.
Morning tea: is at 11am, please bring something to share or to enjoy yourself.
Looking forward to seeing many of you there!

August 2025 working bee
2025-08-04 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
We’re heading back to Site 5 for our next Landcare working bee, and we’d love your help!
Thanks to recent efforts, we’ve made great progress in this area—but some persistent weeds are making a comeback. This session, we’ll be targeting boxthorn, cape ivy, madeira vine, turkey rhubarb, moth vine and privets.
Because of the momentum we’ve built, we’re hoping to sweep across both Sites 4 and 5 (between the anabranch and the racecourse) to get on top of these problem weeds quickly and effectively.
Here are the details:
When: Monday 4th Aug, 9.30-12.30pm
What: Planting maintenance, weeding
Where: Site 5 (near the Old Bega Racecourse carpark on Jacksonia Grove – look for the BRAWL flag).
Bring: Drink bottle, Garden gloves, secateurs, weed bags, weeding tools (some tools will be provided), and your usual enthusiasm!
Wear: Enclosed sturdy footwear, sun hat and sun-smart clothing.
Morning tea: is at 11am, please bring something to share or to enjoy yourself.
Whether you’re a seasoned volunteer or new to the group, your help makes a real difference. Let’s keep the momentum going and give our native vegetation the upper hand.

July 2025 working bee
2025-07-07 09:30 - 12:30 | Spenco Lagoon, Gipps St, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
Weather permitting (I am watching this easterly low coming in…) we will be going back to the southern side of Spenco Lagoon, meeting at the northern end of Gipps St at 9.30 am.
Because of the work we have done, this area is looking good -quite the place for a relaxed morning tea looking over the lagoon.
One of our tasks is to attend to last year’s plantings where we used large mesh tree guards to protect plants from Wally browsing. The trees that have taken generally need pruning and weeding, and perhaps we should lift some of them so that the trees are protected higher up -I noticed in at least one case that wally had been browsing a tree that had poked its head above the top of the guard.
Paddy is bringing some trees and shrubs for us to plant at guard locations where planting was not successful.
There’s also some privett that needs pulling where possible or more drastic action if not.
Paddy and crew have been doing some fantastic work on the honeysuckle, blackberry and privett on the eastern side of the lagoon, which is rampant in places.
Here are the details:
When: Monday 7th July, 9.30-12.30pm
What: Planting maintenance, weeding.
Where: Meet at the northern end of Gipps St .
Bring: Drink bottle, Garden gloves, secateurs, weed bags, weeding tools (some tools will be provided), gum boots.
Wear: Enclosed sturdy footwear, sun hat and sun-smart clothing.
Morning tea: is at 11am, please bring something to share or to enjoy yourself.
If you plan to come, please check emails on Sunday evening. I will confirm whether the bee is going ahead -if there has been a flood I may decide it’s better to postpone for a week.

June 2025 working bee
2025-06-02 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
With last week’s generous rainfall, the Bega River reached a low flood level—just enough to cause some bank erosion in places, but thankfully not enough to damage our plantings. Phew! The upside? The soil profile is now moist and the groundwater nicely recharged, creating ideal conditions for our plantings to thrive through the winter.
We had originally planned to shift our efforts to Spenco Lagoon for this working bee, but due to the elevated water levels, the site is currently too inundated to work effectively. Instead, we’ll be redirecting our focus back to Site 4.
Recently, we’ve been concentrating on Sites 4 and 5—you might remember these as the newly opened areas between the Old Bega Racecourse and the anabranch/causeway on Jacksonia Grove. These sites were heavily dominated by mature privets, so it’s no surprise that privet seedlings and suckers are still popping up. For our June working bee, we’ll be tackling weed control in Site 4, with a particular focus on managing privet regrowth.
But it’s not all weeds! We’re starting to see signs of natural regeneration, specifically from native acacias. This is a big win for the Bega River. Over a century of clearing, farming, excavation, rubbish dumping, and invasive weeds have severely limited native plant regeneration. Now, thanks to the removal of weedy overstorey, revegetation with native plants, ongoing weed control, and a partial absence of the smothering Wandering Trad, we’re finally seeing native seedlings emerge on their own. This is exactly the kind of ecological recovery we’re working toward.
It’s still early days, but the signs are promising. Natural recruitment means the ecosystem can begin to sustain itself—an exciting step in the right direction.
Join us this Monday to help give our existing plantings—and these new native recruits—the best possible chance to thrive!
Here are the details:
When: Monday 2nd June, 9.30-12.30pm
What: Planting maintenance, weeding – focus on privet.
Where: Meet at the top of Site 4 (approx 100m west of the Old Bega Racecourse carpark on Jacksonia Grove – look for the BRAWL flag).
Bring: Drink bottle, Garden gloves, secateurs, weed bags, weeding tools (some tools will be provided)
Wear: Enclosed sturdy footwear, sun hat and sun-smart clothing.
Morning tea: is at 11am, please bring something to share or to enjoy yourself.
I hope to see you there. (Erin)
PS Sign up for our email updates to stay informed about upcoming events by emailing us at begariverandwetlandslandcare@gmail.com. 🌎✨

May 2025 working bee
2025-05-05 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
Details TBC, watch this space, or sign up for our email updates to stay informed about upcoming events by emailing us at begariverandwetlandslandcare@gmail.com. 🌎✨

April 2025 working bee
2025-04-07 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
What wonderful rain we’ve had recently, setting the stage for the cooler and generally drier months ahead. Our April working bee is just around the corner, and we’ll be heading to Site 2 – our old bamboo site. We’ll revisit the 200 seedlings we planted back in December 2023 to ensure they’re getting the care they need. Additionally, we’ll tackle our target weeds for the site, mainly privet, turkey rhubarb and hemlock, while also checking for any reemerging bamboo and new infestations of camphor laurel and madeira vine that seem to be creeping into new areas.
This is also the site where the native groundcover, Scurvy Weed (Commelina cyanea), has been naturally germinating and seems to be getting a stronghold amongst the weed species of a very similar appearance, Wandering Trad (Tradescantia fluminensis). And why, you may ask? Well, we have many theories, the leading one is that perhaps the fungal smut biocontrol introduced by the CSIRO to control the Wandering Trad may have sufficiently weakened it, giving the Commelina the competitive advantage it was needing. Come along on Monday and add your theories to the mix! 🙂
Here are the details:
When: Monday 7th April, 9.30-12.30pm
What: Planting maintenance, weeding.
Where: Meet at the Main River Reserve Picnic area (corner of Auckland Street and Jacksonia Grove – most eastern table).
Bring: Drink bottle, Garden gloves, weed bags, weeding tools (some tools will be provided)
Wear: Enclosed sturdy footwear, sun hat and sun-smart clothing.
Morning tea: is at 11am, please bring something to share or to enjoy yourself.

March 2025 working bee
2025-03-03 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
Details TBC

February 2025 working bee
2025-02-03 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
It’s time to gear up for our 2025 working bee program. Last year, we made significant strides in enhancing the Bega River’s habitat and biodiversity, reducing invasive weed cover, and creating resilient riverbanks to withstand increased erosion pressures from extreme natural events under a changing climate. If you want to learn more about BRAWL’s work, goals, and aspirations, check out our new video – Bega River and Wetlands Landcare Project Video
For this bee, we’ll be returning to Site 1, where we had our last Christmas morning tea, to tackle the Cape Ivy, Turkey Rhubarb, and White Poplar that have proliferated since our last visit.
Here are the details for the working bee.
When: Monday 3rd February, 9.30-12.30pm
What: Cape Ivy, turkey rhubarb and white poplar control (and privet seedlings where we find them)
Where: Meet at the Main picnic reserve (northern end of Auckland St) at the most easterly table. Follow the google pin: https://maps.app.goo.gl/mkRQohoi7egV7UP86
Bring: Drink bottle, garden gloves, weeding tools or rakes, weed bags, secutears (some tools will be provided)
Wear: Enclosed sturdy footwear, sun hat and sun-smart clothing.
Morning tea: is at 11am, please bring something to share or to enjoy yourself.

December 2024 working bee
2024-12-02 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
It’s almost time for our December working bee and our Christmas morning tea. And what a year it’s been! We have completed our three-year project, funded by the NSW Government through their environmental trust. We have launched our website (though somewhat still in development – but we’ve already had a couple of enquiries through it).
We also have a new promo video filmed and edited by Raymond Toms from Pi Productions. I’ll send the link to you in a separate email, as there are just a couple of final edits to be made but we didn’t get them to him in time before his big trip to Antarctica.
So our next working bee will be around the main reserve picnic area, where woody weeds have made an escape for it amongst the gardens. For our Christmas morning tea, we will stop slightly later than usual, at 11.30am and down tools for the rest of the bee, in order to celebrate together and share some stories about the year. I’ll bring some of the older photos of the Bega River showing BRAWLs achievements over the last 18 years.
When: Monday 2nd December, 9.30-12.30pm
What: Weeding. Cut and paste of woody weeds and weedy vine control.
Where: Main picnic reserve, corner of Auckland Street and Jacksonia Gove (still Bridge St in Google Maps).
Bring: Drink bottle, garden gloves, weed bags, secutears, pruning knife (some tools will be provided)
Wear: Enclosed sturdy footwear, sun hat and sun-smart clothing.
Morning tea: is at 11.30am, please bring something to share or to enjoy yourself.

November 2024 working bee
2024-11-04 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia

October 2024 working bee
2024-10-14 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
October Working Bee: Our next working bee falls on the October public holiday, so we are postponing the bee to the following week, Monday 14th October, 9.30-12.30pm.
There is plenty to do this working bee to help our new plantings get the best start in life and to reduce the weedy spring growth. Here are the details:
When: Monday 14 October, 9.30-12.30pm
What: Planting maintenance, weeding, watering smaller seedlings.
Where: Meet at the Old Bega Racecourse car park (corner East Street and Jacksonia Grove)
Bring: Drink bottle, garden gloves, weeding tool and weed bags (some tools will be provided)
Wear: Enclosed sturdy footwear, sun hat and sun-smart clothing.
Morning tea: is at 11am, please bring something to share or to enjoy yourself.
Wildlife Surveys: This October and November, BRAWL has engaged local ecologist Tony Hastings to lead a series of wildlife surveys with our volunteers. We are in the process of updating our Baseline Fauna Report, originally prepared by EnviroKey, in 2016.
As a volunteer, you’ll have the opportunity to:

Learn how to survey for microbats
Participate in playback surveys for owls
Engage in bird transect surveys

The data collected from these surveys will be used to update our records and to monitor the impact of our rehabilitation works. We are still finalising the dates for these surveys, so please stay tuned for more details.
Please let me know if you would like a copy of the EnviroKey report – Steve Sass has kindly offered for this to be shared with members.
I hope to see you there!

September 2024 working bee
2024-09-09 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
Spring is upon us, and with it comes our Spring Tree Planting Working Bee during next week’s monthly Monday gathering!
This marks our final planting under our current Environmental Trust grant concluding in October. Our accomplishments over this three-year grant are substantial, including the addition of 4000 plants along the riverbank. This includes planting at our monthly working bees, school events with Bega Public and Mumbulla Schools, visitor organisations such as the ANU and Grow the Future, partnered events with the Far South Coast Landcare Association, Bega Rotary, ParkRun, support from Bega Valley Shire Council and our amazing contractors, and who can forget dressing up with the fabulous Princesses of Planting! This is a remarkable milestone that reflects the dedication and effort of our numerous volunteers.
Please remember that our working bees are open to all. You’re free to participate in as many or as few as you wish, without any obligation to stay for the entire event. Our Landcare group thrives thanks to the diverse array of volunteers who contribute to our working bees, whether occasionally or on a regular basis. The adage “Many hands make light work” truly resonates, as it’s remarkable what we can accomplish together in a single session.
So, if you are available and eager to come to next week’s bee, here are the details:
When: Monday 9th September, 9.30-12.30pm
What: Planting maintenance, weeding, watering smaller seedlings.
Where: Meet at the main river reserve picnic area, near the corner of Auckland Street and Jacksonia Grove (look for the flag).
Bring: Drink bottle, Garden gloves, trowel and watering buckets (some tools and buckets will be provided)
Wear: Enclosed sturdy footwear, sun hat and sun-smart clothing.
Morning tea: is at 11am, please bring something to share or to enjoy yourself.
I hope to see you there!

August 2024 working bee
2024-08-05 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
We have one last winter working bee until Spring will (hopefully) be in the air! This is a great chance to get in there and give our plantings a head-start before the flush of weedy spring growth. Many of the weedy annuals have now died back, making it much easier to get to our plantings (which are looking great). Also revealed are the privet seedlings that were hiding and making galliant attempts to grow quickly while we can’t see them. This is a great time to get to them while they are easy to see and accessible. So here are the details:
When: Monday, 5th August, 9.30-12.30pm
What: Planting maintenance and weeding.
Where: Meet at the Anabranch picnic area (at the causeway along Jacksonia Grove)
Bring: Drink bottle, Garden gloves, weed bags, weeding tool and watering buckets (some tools will be provided)
Wear: Enclosed sturdy footwear, sun hat and sun-smart clothing.
Morning tea: is at 11am, please bring something to share or to enjoy yourself.
Coordinators Report: Last Monday, the BRAWL executive committee held our recent quarterly meeting. At these meetings, I provide a quarterly report to the executive, reporting on the activities that have occured during that quarter. The committee suggested that this report may be of interest to the BRAWL membership. Please find the Community Coordinator’s report attached for your interest.
I hope to see you on Monday!

July 2024 working bee
2024-07-01 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
Don’t let the cool weather trick you into thinking things may have slowed down at the river. If anything, this is the time to ramp up and get a head-start on the weeds before the flush of weedy spring growth!
We have been working hard in the “newly mulched” area recently (Sites 4 and 5). When a site is newly opened, extra effort is required to control weeds which tend to take advantage of the increased light and available water, until our new plantings are established and able to claim dominance. We are only 2.5 years into this new area and many of our plantings are above head height. In another 2 years, we will be able to decrease the number of visits to this site.
So July’s working bee will be held at Site 5 – Old Bega Racecourse end – working upstream from the most eastern end. Our focus once again will be privet (cut and paste), Vines (Turkey rhubarb, Madeira Vine and Cape Ivy), cutting down tall weeds overshadowing plantings and overall, tidying up our plantings – weeding inside guards and clearing at least 50cm around base – especially moving trad away.
Remember – if you know any of these weeds or if everything sounds like another language, please don’t be scared off, we always love new volunteers and are happy to ID weeds or demonstrate techniques.
After morning tea, we will have the chance to return to the small garden area we gave a facelift to last year (as you enter the racecourse). Our plants are growing superbly well, but there are a few weeds and blackberries returning. With a group of us, we could have it tidied and guards removed in 10 mins!
When: Monday, 1st July, 9.30-12.30pm
What: Planting maintenance, targeted weeding including privet, pulling off guards, knocking down tall weeds.
Where: Site 5. Meet at the Old Bega Racecourse (corner of Jacksonia Grove and East St)
Bring: Drink bottle, garden gloves, weed bags, weeding tool and secuatears (some tools will be provided)
Wear: Enclosed sturdy footwear, sun hat and sun-smart clothing.
Morning tea: is at 11am, please bring something to share or to enjoy yourself.

June 2024 working bee
2024-06-03 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia

November 2023 working bee
2023-11-06 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
Details TBC.

October 2023 working bee
2023-10-09 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
The October working bee falls on the public holiday. We will postpone this working bee to the following Monday 9th October, 9.30-12.30pm.

We will be planting out the newly created erosion control area at the Bega River Junction Crossing with lomandras (see photos below). We installed bollards at this site on Thursday to restrict the movements of 4WD vehicles damaging the roots of ancient river oaks and causing deep incisions in the river banks. By following up with the lomandras, we will help to stabilise the banks and rehabilitate the area.
This was a huge job and required special excavated holes by vacuum suction instead of digging/augering due to the amount of underground utilities at this location. It was fascinating! Thanks also to Paddy and Premjody for a massive job installing the bollards. We are very lucky to have our contractors who help to turn BRAWL’s ambitious rehabilitation plans into reality.

When: Monday 9th October, 9.30-12.30pm
Where: Main river reserve picnic area, most western table (look for the BRAWL flag)
Bring: Water bottle, garden gloves, watering buckets and small trowel (some tools will be provided)
Morning tea is at 11am. Please bring something to share or to just enjoy yourself.

September 2023 working bee
2023-09-04 09:30 - 12:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
Our next working bee is upon us and we are spoilt for choice for activities to do!
The good news is that we are on track with our annual maintenance schedule. A targeted sweep for priority weeds was undertaken in late winter across all river sites. We also completed planting out 2.4 ha of the “new mulched” area between the Anabranch picnic area and the Racecourse last Saturday with students from the ANU and community members.
So we’ve decided to turn our minds to mitigating potential fire loads by reducing the growth of hemlock. This is particularly prevalent in the old bamboo site and can grow up to a couple meters in height. Hemlock tends to dry out over summer, creating a dense mid-story of dry vegetation. The aim will be to chip this down to ground level.
After morning tea, we have a special activity to remove a washed down large tree branch that has gotten lodged in the toe of the river bank, down from “AnnaBench”. The way the branch is lodged is causing a swirling vortex during times of higher flow, causing the river bank to erode. Some of us will get down in the water to move this branch and others will plant out the eroded slope to help stabilise the bank.
It will be a fun working bee with a bit of diversity to keep it interesting! The details are:
When: Monday 4th September, 9.30-12.30pm
Meet: Anabranch picnic area (mid-way along Jacksonia Gr at the causeway)
Bring: Garden gloves, weed chipper or mattock, water bottle and change of clothes if you plan to stand in the water to move the tree branch (mid-thigh deep) – some tools will be provided, so don’t worry if you don’t have anything to bring.
Wear: Sun safe clothes, hat and sturdy shoes or boots.
Morning tea is at 11. Please bring something to share or to enjoy for yourself.

Bega River Wildlife Walk
2023-08-13 11:00 - 13:30 | Bega River Reserve, Bega River Reserve, Bega, NSW, 2550, Australia
Bega River Wildlife Walk – this Science week – with Botanist Jackie Miles & iNaturalist support

The Atlas of Life and the Bega River and Wetlands Landcare group (BRAWL) will run a botanist led “walk, record and ID” session at the Bega River Reserve. We will have the expert knowledge of Jackie Miles to guide us on plant ID and Patricia Daly and other Atlas members on hand to provide a beginner’s guide on how to use the iNaturalist app.
You will have the opportunity to practice your new learnt skills with help readily at hand.
Additional details
Bring: Smart phone with iNaturalist app downloaded or camera and drink bottle
Wear: Sturdy shoes, sun hat, warm jumper
Light lunch will be included.
Suitable for everyone
Well behaved dogs on leads are welcome.
This is a Bega River and Wetlands Landcare (BRAWL) and Atlas of Life partnership event.
Meet: Bega River Reserve picnic area (corner Auckland St and Jacksonia Gr)
