Myall River Festival cancelled due to COVID restrictions
Every year since 2007, MKEG has had a stall at the Myall River Festival which is held each October on the Tea Gardens waterfront. We have two main objectives at the Festival:
In the early years of our involvement with the Festival we gave away Swamp Mahogany trees (Eucalyptus robusta) because they are a preferred food tree for our local koalas and which are endemic to the local area. These trees were propagated for us by then Great Lakes Council tree nursery. However, Swamp Mahoganies are a large tree (20-30 metres tall) and some property owners were concerned about falling branches and leaves in their gutters. In more recent times we learned about a much smaller tree that koalas love and, although a vulnerable species, is also endemic to sandy soils in our region. This tree (Eucalyptus parramattensis subsp decadens), sometimes known as the Dwarf Parramatta Redgum or Drooping Redgum, only grows to a height of 4-5 metres and has a quite attractive weeping form with colourful apricot coloured bark after annual shedding. A number of these trees grow around Hawks Nest and members of our Group collect seeds from them which are then propagated by Council in tube stock for us to give away.
The Festival was to be held on Saturday 23rd October this year but had to be cancelled because of the Coronavirus epidemic. Instead, we will have a tree give-away weekend at Woodward’s Tea Gardens Plant Nursery
Ian Morphett
October 2021
Every year since 2007, MKEG has had a stall at the Myall River Festival which is held each October on the Tea Gardens waterfront. We have two main objectives at the Festival:
- to give away koala food trees (usually about 200 of them) and other native plants for members of the community to plant on their properties
- to connect with the public about our role in protecting the endangered Hawks Nest and Tea Gardens koala population.
In the early years of our involvement with the Festival we gave away Swamp Mahogany trees (Eucalyptus robusta) because they are a preferred food tree for our local koalas and which are endemic to the local area. These trees were propagated for us by then Great Lakes Council tree nursery. However, Swamp Mahoganies are a large tree (20-30 metres tall) and some property owners were concerned about falling branches and leaves in their gutters. In more recent times we learned about a much smaller tree that koalas love and, although a vulnerable species, is also endemic to sandy soils in our region. This tree (Eucalyptus parramattensis subsp decadens), sometimes known as the Dwarf Parramatta Redgum or Drooping Redgum, only grows to a height of 4-5 metres and has a quite attractive weeping form with colourful apricot coloured bark after annual shedding. A number of these trees grow around Hawks Nest and members of our Group collect seeds from them which are then propagated by Council in tube stock for us to give away.
The Festival was to be held on Saturday 23rd October this year but had to be cancelled because of the Coronavirus epidemic. Instead, we will have a tree give-away weekend at Woodward’s Tea Gardens Plant Nursery
Ian Morphett
October 2021