Ben makes it to the mangroves

David's alter-ego Ben couldn't be kept in the dark for too long.

Knowing david was making frequent visits to the mangroves around Hays Inlet, he tagged along.

A brief report of his findings can be seen on http://groups.msn.com/BensTours/beninthemangroves.msnw

Mangroves of Hays Inlet 1 - The Grey Mangrove

The dominant mangrove species in Hays Inlet is the Grey mangove ( Avicennia marina ). This is the mangrove seen by people on planes flying north out of Brisbane's airport.

The Grey mangrove is the species almost found right around Australia. A boardwalk at St Kilda just north of Adelaide takes you through an area of Grey mangroves. Only the cliffs of the Great Australian Bight deny the Grey mangrove the opportunity to be found right around the Australian coastline ( except Tasmania! )

The Grey mangrove is an important species in building up coastlines. They have breathing roots which grow vertically up above ground level. These roots help the plant to survive in the mud. The roots also help trap sand and silt which build up the coastline.

It is believed that some of the Grey mangroves near the airport around Deception Bay were growing there when Captain Cook sailed up the east coast of Australia. Believe it or not. They would be very old trees.

Mangroves such as the Grey are also believed to have been important in saving some communities in Sri Lanka and Thailand following the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami. These plant communities took the force of the waves and slowed the inland rush of water. Believe it or not but this one should be able to be followed up.

From the Management Meeting 15-03-06

There is no time to sit back and draw a breath on this Committee!!

MEMBERS need to note that the first quarterly meeting of the Forum will be held in Redcliffe High School's SEU Room 1 on Wednesday April 12 between 7 and 9pm. The meeting will allow members to meet their Management Committee, hear what REF has done in its brief existence and what is planned for the future. Redcliffe City Council Environment Officer, Christy Samorowski, will also address the meeting. Christy played an essential part in organising our Clean up Australia Day site and is co-ordinating the removal of the large number of car wrecks we found in the mangroves. Not a member - the membership form can be found earlier in this blog.

World Environment Day /Week / Month ( June 2 - 11 ) will see a display at the Redcliffe Museum highlighting 'the good, the bad and the ugly' of Hays Inlet; the possibility of mangrove walk/s and a major public forum on Hays Inlet.

Watch this space.

CU

David Lergessner

Back to the classroom

REF's Secretary, David Lergessner, found himself back in a slightly familiar environment today when he joined students at Nashville State School for a session on mangroves as part of the Redcliffe Environmental Forum's education program.

While the students were a little bit smaller and the chairs certainly not to David's size, the enthusiasm was familiar.

David gave a powerpoint presentation on mangroves, their importance and the need to conserve them. This was followed by sharing some of the items collected from Hays Inlet mangroves as part of the Clean Up Australia Day activity. These included car parts, plastic items, bits of drift wood and bottles. The items may form part of the REF World Environment Day display coming up at the Redcliffe Museum.

Students prepared posters at the end of David's presentation indicating the need to preserve mangrove areas and came up with some good ideas including one which has a number of crabs asking people to protect their homes. Several Year 6 students joined the class for the last 30 minutes to assist with the poster drawing.

Hopefully some of the posters might be able to be shared on our blog in the near future.

David had been contacted by class teacher Amanda Wicks following a presentation by REF at the schools' Environmental Expo last week.

'E' for 'educate'

REF took its message to the classroom today with a presentation by David Lergessner at the annual Environmental Expo for schools held this year at Sandgate District State High School.

The Expo is an opportunity for publishers, government organisations and community groups such as REF to put their message across to teachers from throughout SE Qld. REF was fortunate as a late withdrawal resulted in an offer of a 30 minute presentation slot being offered. This session was used to make a powerpoint presentation to a small group of educators about REF and its role in the Redcliffe area.

Feedback from the group will be used to further develop REF's education arm.

One outcome from the presentations was an invitation from a Nashville school for David to participate in a lesson on mangroves. David is discussing different approaches with the teacher who is a former Redcliffe resident.

Another outcome was the networking with other SE Qld environmental groups and organisations. Many of the groups involved with the Expo were keen to find out about REF and establish links with our group.

A somewhat hectic afternoon which should raise the profile of REF as an environmental organisation of note in the SE Qld area.

Clean-Up Australia Day 2006

Twenty five people most from Redcliffe but including one from Morningside and another all the way from Tokyo ( amazing how we get the word around! ) rolled up at 7am at the western end of Duffield Road to do their bit for Clean-Up Australia Day.

The usual bits of plastic and metal was found but one item did raise eyebrows - who would be mowing in the mangroves??!! The group was surprised that so few recyclable items were found.

Council will have its hands full in coming weeks removing the numerous car bodies which were the major item of pollution in our area. Twenty was the final count.

Thanks to all who participated. It was a job well done or should I say done 'wet'!!

David