Overview of the Present State of Bomaderry Creek Bushland

500 word Overview of Present State of Asset

Bomaderry Creek Bushland– ‘Present’

The Bomaderry Creek Bushland is a great asset to the Shoalhaven. The creek itself is located just north of the Shoalhaven River, and flows south-east to merge into it. The Bushland, of which one third has been dedicated as a regional park, is nestled in between the developed suburbs of North Nowra and Bomaderry.

The Bomaderry Creek Bushland is often used for picnics, dog walking, general recreation for kids and adults, inspiration for photography and artwork, an educational hands-on source for school groups, rock climbing, cycling, running and scientific research. It includes 4 bushwalks including ‘Weir to Mossy Gully’, ‘River Oak Crossing’, ‘North Nowra to Creek’ and ‘Bernie’s Lookout’. It provides extensive physical and psychological benefits and a chance to take a breath from the humdrum of everyday life.

The Bomaderry Creek Bushland  play a profound role in the lives of the entire Shoalhaven community by providing its residents with an untouched piece of nature for leisure, relaxation, education and for some, employment as caretakers, all within a short drive, and for some, just a jump over the fence or a jog down the street. It also features an Aboriginal mural (mosaic style) in the Narang Picnic Area. This all contributes to it being a great attraction for tourism, which also helps to boost the area’s overall economy.

One of the great things about the Bomaderry Creek Bushland is that it has incredibly dense biodiversity, or in other words, it is home to a very large amount of flora and fauna in a very small area, including over 500 plant species. It is also home to 12 animals classified as threatened and 3 threatened plant species, including the incredibly rare Bomaderry Zieria, which is named so because the only place in the world it is found is in the Bomaderry Creek Bushland, making it unique.

The Bomaderry Creek Regional Park is managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service and another large part of the Bushland is looked after by the Shoalhaven City Council. The community also places a significant role in looking after the whole 250 ha Bushland through the Bomaderry Creek Landcare/Bushcare Group. This group of volunteers is made up of community members from the inexperienced to the professional. They care for the physical needs of the creek and its surroundings by regenerating disturbed sites primarily by getting rid of weeds and replacing them with native plants and continuing to maintain them. The group also takes care of  non-physical benefits  of the Bushland by involving the community in guided walks, submitting informative articles in the local newspaper, creating and distributing leaflets and the book, ‘Bomaderry Creek Bushland Walks’.

Another caretaker of the Bomaderry Creek is the ‘Friends of Bomaderry Creek’. This is an organisation of over 170 members that has been set up to defend the Creek against any of those options for  the  ‘North Nowra Link Road’ which would go through the middle of the Bushland. FOBC maintains a proactive political stance against those destructive options while supporting an option close to the northern edge of the Bushland. The options through the middle of the Bushland would destroy many plants, including the rare Bomaderry Zieria, and by cutting a swathe through the Bushland would lead to many road kills of native wildlife.