www.willowwarriors.org.au - LOLA

LOLA - Jenolan Caves

The Lithgow Oberon Landcare Association (LOLA) is a volunteer umbrella organisation with a membership of 10 representatives from Landcare and community Groups working in the Coxs River catchment, with support from the HNCMA (employing a Community Support Officer) to assist and coordinate the ongoing development of Landcare and NRM activities. LOLA holds regular meetings, an AGM, has elected office-bearers, and incorporates memberships from annual nominations and has been established since 1997.

LOLA assists with the project and financial management of NRM initiatives being undertaken by member groups in the catchment. These include rehabilitation activities including revegetation works, bushland regeneration, Willow and other weed control works, pest animal management and soil erosion mitigation & control. Many of these activities have a direct benefit to the catchment health of areas draining into Sydney’s drinking water supply.

LOLA and its program of activities aim to:
• Raise the awareness and participation of Landcare and volunteering in the broader community
• Coordinate on-ground works according to a landscape-scale planning framework
• Extend the vision, capacity and range of activities of Groups in the district
• Initiate a range of NRM training opportunities to provide technical skills in bush regeneration, natural resource management and soil erosion mitigation techniques
• Encourage interagency partnerships that promote strategic programmes being implemented throughout the catchment

Amongst the activities they organise and carryout they have helped Friends of the Colo by managing contrators treating crack willows and black berries in the Wolgan valley which were spreading down aalong the Wolgan Valley inthe the Wollemi National Park and World Heritage Area (WHA).

Jenolan Caves Sycamore Control Project ( 2 items )

In 2006 LOLA representatives met with relevant agency staff and volunteers in order to discuss and co-ordinate the further expansion of weed control management and volunteer initiatives at Jenolan Caves, with a particular focus on Sycamores.

Since that time, three successful volunteer training weekends funded by LOLA have been held in May and November 2007, May and November 2008 and May 2009 with up to 20 participants attending the ealier events and then 30 at the later events. This was further supported with in-kind assistance from the Reserve Trust in the form of staff and accommodation. Additional activities included an evening BBQ, interpretative guided walk within the Caves Precinct in regard to hydrology, geology and cultural and historic significance. Further was a guided spotlight walk observing and identifying nocturnal fauna species and discussion of many of the threatened species (flora and fauna) occurring at Jenolan Caves. A guided night-time cave tour was offered from the November 2007 activity.

A number of volunteer models exist that have been successfully established elsewhere, such as the ‘Friends of the Colo’, and ‘Willows out of the Wollemi’ (Willow Warriors), with a specific focus on either an area, or a particular type of weed, that has generated a strong ongoing volunteer-support base. LOLA and the Jenolan Caves Landcare Group would like to replicate this kind of model, and are running another event in September and november 2009, based upon the prevois successful events, at which point existing funding to continue the program of activities will be exhausted.

NPWS (Oberon) has expressed a desire to continue with funding support for these activities, again, with ongoing support from the Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust.

To see a PDF leaflet the tools bing used and the instructions on how to treat the Sycamores and photos showing the results of the work being done click here

to see the leftlet on the next activities click here