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Sydney Round 4 – 2009 |
 This round of funding focuses on the outcome of ensuring seafood sector participation continues in local NRM, information related to healthy fish habitat is dispersed and actions occur which influence general community behaviours and attitudes towards ownership of marine resources.
Events and actions occurring include the launch of a 7 x 2.9 meter mural in the foyer of the Sydney Fish Market, development of a Juncus actus ID sheet, underwater recreational fishing tackle and aquatic debris clean ups, audit of past works, Ocean Care Day stall in Manly and World Wetlands Day events in Pittwater and the installation of Tangler bins in new locations (to collect rec fishing line).
$10,000 is also being targeted on-ground to support work at:
- Kitties Creek ( Friends of Lane Cove NP)
- Little Saltpan Creek (Bankstown city council)
- Beauty Point (Georges River Combined Councils Groups - GRCCC)
To date: In Sydney, 4 rounds of funding have achieved:
- $466,500 dollars spent across 41 project sites.
- Matching in-kind and cash contributions to the value of $705,869
- Active involvement of 1,327 people and the training of an additional 488 people to be more fish habitat-friendly
- 141,114 tube stock planted
- Opening up 8.8 km of habitat to fish passage and concentrated work on the management of 10.9 hectares of significant ecologically endangered species (ie areas inhabited by species such as saltmarsh and mangroves which support at some point in their lifecycle 75% of commercial fish species life).
Tide to Table- Sydney is funded by the National Landcare Program and the Natural Heritage Trust through the Sydney Metropolitan Catchment Management Authority.
 
Monitoring and evaluation results of past sites funded in Sydney.
 Monitoring and evaluation of 22 past project sites funded under Tide to Table in Sydney over the last 4 years was undertaken. Previous project sites were revisited, and interviews of current maintenance officers, contractors and volunteers were conducted. Observations of present conditions were related to photos taken prior to the commencement of work, to validate the value of the projects.
Highlights
- 22% of sites showed stable weed encroachment, 77% of sites exhibited declining weed encroachment.
- 66% of sites showed favourable increases in plant species compositions for fish pop’s, 33% of sites were steady (little ecological change in species composition).
- 73% of sites showed favourable plant species increasing in abundance, 18% steady, 9% were declining.
- Generally poor monitoring and storage of project data within contract proponents.
- In some projects in retrospect it was difficult to show exactly where dollars were spent due to numerous sources of funding contributing to the same project site or issue.
- A yearly audit is a very good way of monitoring progress, knowledge, energy and outcomes of a program.
- Juncus actus – a common threat (young plants are hard to identify)
- Erhata grass as a weed returns easily where conditions are favourable within saltmarsh littoral zones.
- In many cases temporary interpretive signage had been removed but where it still remains it was still in good condition.
- Where sediment basins were installed, some councils are having trouble paying for the maintenance and reluctant to install more even though the results of use are outstanding.
- One site where works were undertaken had mostly returned to a previous weed invested state, highlighting the need to select manageable projects unless continual funds or volunteer effort is available for the site to remain viable in the longer term. Short term contracts are less likely to be able to restore areas where native species resilience is minimal.
- Future works on rocky steep sites may possibly achieve better habitat outcomes by starting from the bottom of the hill up and not top to bottom.
 Lessons learned
- Better biological monitoring and recording of work sites is required
- More emphasis on building project proponents skills to monitor site work
- Ensure proponents understand the contracts details by spending one on one time working through it in the initial stages of the project.
- Current on ground works are increasing habitat for fish
Past Projects
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