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. The grants have been used for the environmental rehabilitation detailed here, employing predominantly young people.
Grant providers:
Swamp Wallaby found on the Landcare
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.
There are two endangered forest ecosystems: subtropical rainforest and swamp sclerophyll forest. The first is a dense and shady forest that benefits from the rich soil deposited by floods. The second is a more open forest of paperbarks, eucalypts and cabbage palms. Over 400 species of native plants, animals, and fungi have been recorded as living here, and it is one of the most biodiverse areas on the Central Coast. Landcare has helped it to recover from clearing before 1940, and from the subsequent freeway construction.
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 adjoining floodplain land acquired by Transport NSW for the freeway. Landcare volunteers have helped it regenerate since 2000, starting from patches of old-growth rainforest, and from remaining swamp sclerophyll forest. 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, the more than 400 species of native biota make this area a hotspot of Central Coast biodiversity.
Photo: Hitomi Ward captured this noisy pitta in January 2022. Sightings of this species are increasingly common as its rainforest habitat grows thicker.
Lists of species so far recorded (437):
green plants (207 sp.)
birds (125 sp.)
frogs (13 sp.)
reptiles (17 sp.)
mammals (26 sp.)
Insects (31 sp.)
fungi (28 sp.)
ABC Life Matters visits our site
Helping prevent nutrient pollution downstream
Identifying regenerating rainforest seedlings (website) ****
This site is edited by Colette Livermore, Robyn Nutley, and Brian Patterson.
Palm Grove Ourimbah Landcare is on Darkinjung Country and acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and future. We recognise the connection to their land, their waters and surrounding communities and acknowledge their history here on this land.
