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This website belongs to the members of Palm Grove Ourimbah Creek Landcare Group. 

It is a platform to share information about our site and the many wonderful flora and fauna species that inhabit it. 

Any questions or queries please visit our Contact Us page

The project has brought in some $0.5m in competitive  grants. These have been used for the environmental rehabilitation detailed here, employing predominantly young people.  

Grant providers:

We care for the publicly-owned areas of floodplain of Ourimbah Creek .  The strip bordering Ourimbah Creek is owned by Central Coast Council. The adjacent area between the creek and the Freeway Rest Area is owned by Transport NSW. Since the year 2000, the parts on the SE side of Ourimbah Creek have been cared for, monitored and reported on by our group of volunteers. 

About the site

An endangered forest ecosystem supports hundreds of native species on this site. One section, a subtropical rainforest on the floodplain, has recovered from clearing before 1940, expanding from remnants that can be seen on the 1941 air photograph.  The other, a swamp sclerophyll forest of paperbarks, eucalypts and cabbage palm, also suffered by being drained and then grazed by cattle. 

Clearing slowed during World War II, as farm workers joined the armed services. A weir and pumping station was built on the creek in 1977 to meet the increasing demand for town water. Also, local residents were appreciating the protective value of creek vegetation, reflected in our Landcare group being formed in 1998. 

The site includes Council land along the creek and the adjoining floodplain land acquired by Transport NSW for freeway construction. Given licences to care for it, we've gradually helped it regenerate, starting from patches of old-growth rainforest, and from swamp sclerophyll forest of Wyong paperbark and swamp mahogany. Wattles and other pioneer species helped protect denuded areas, and encouraged faster regeneration. State and federal grants, together with Council help, supported this volunteer endeavour. Currently, more than 350 species of native biota make this area a hotspot of Central Coast biodiversity.

Photo by Hitomi Ward of the noisy pitta. Captured in January 2022, sightings of this species are increasingly common as their rainforest habitat grows thicker.

AGM

View My Stats This site is edited by Hannah Gonzaga, Robyn Nutley, and Brian Patterson.