Getting hot, sweaty and muddy in the Top End’s build up is all part of the job for the Rapid Creek Landcare Group. With their families, friends and the wider Darwin community they plant local natives in the lead up to the wet season to create wildlife habitat in the Rapid Creek catchment. Their crowning glory is at The Spit, on Parks and Wildlife land near Rapid Creek’s mouth, where they have turned a wasteland infested with weeds, covered with litter and dumped items, and used for illegal vehicle hooning, into a paradise of flowering and fruiting native plants providing homes for masses of birds and other wildlife. Most recently, during National Volunteer Week, the Group’s ongoing support, hard work and generosity of time towards conserving and enhancing natural and cultural values of Casuarina Coastal Reserve, was acknowledged by The NT Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security, Parks and Wildlife Division.
Formed in the 1990’s the Group has carried out projects throughout the catchment. The revegetation work has also happened in the monsoon forest lining Rapid Creek on City of Darwin land, at Yankee Pools where various land tenures collide, and along the Darwin International Airport’s Gurambai Trail. The Rapid Creek Landcare Group acknowledges the Larrakia people as traditional owners and custodians of Gurambai. Tree planting events and big rubbish clean ups engage large numbers, and the core members work tirelessly throughout the year to maintain sites with weed management being the main focus.
The Group is the trusted voice of the community; they advocate for good management of Rapid Creek by working with stakeholders, and raising awareness more widely, to implement the Rapid Creek Management Plan. When necessary, they mount campaigns against actions threatening the Creek, this is when hundreds of supporters come out of the woodwork.
Achievements include creating 100-150 metre wide conservation zoned buffers along the Creek; restricting vehicle access to the Creek’s edge; stopping a sewer main being trenched through the heart of the monsoon forest where the rare Rufous Owl lives; and halting a proposal to remove mature trees along the Creek in the name of flood mitigation. The Group’s website is at www.rapidcreek.org.au.