And they celebrated in style during National Landcare Week with a visit to Budd Island, one of the Clyde River’s oyster-growing hubs.

Volunteers heard about several natural resource management initiatives on the island including invasive species control, container deposit scheme monitoring and the Tangaroa Blue marine debris program.

“It’s a relatively small island but there is a lot going on out on Budd,” Local Landcare Co-ordinator Emma Patyus said.

“We are so grateful to have had the assistance of local oyster farmers, not just with the logistics of ferrying us to and from the island but for sharing their time, enthusiasm and knowledge with the volunteers, many of whom seemed like they were ready to give up volunteering to take up oyster growing!”

Volunteers were able to sample oysters harvested fresh from the Clyde thanks to Ewan McAsh and Jase Finlay of McAsh Oysters, who also explained the intricacies of oyster farming and answered many questions.

After Budd, volunteers were bussed out to Casey’s Beach to learn about some other exciting projects they may like to get involved in, such as Eurobodalla Council’s estuary program, Indian myna bird control, the cat bib pilot program, building nest boxes and working with local school groups.

Volunteers also celebrated with a workshop about endangered ecological communities.  Led by botanist Jackie Mile, the workshop focused on the importance of coastal saltmarsh and Bangalay sand forest, and was followed by a delicious lunch on the banks of the Tomaga River.

“It sounds like a lot of lunching, but as we know there is no such thing as a free one,” Emma said. “Our local Landcare volunteers committed over 10,000 volunteer hours to local projects last year, working in over 1000 hectares of bushland reserves on a multitude of projects.”

To find out more about the work of Landcare volunteers in the Eurobodalla, contact Emma on 4474 7300.

Landcare is a community-based approach to managing and protecting our natural resources – creating more sustainable farms, conserving our environment and building more cohesive and resilient communities.