The Friends of Shenton Bushland hosted the inaugural bush-to-beach walk on the first day of Spring. As it happened, that particular Sunday was cold and windy, with forecasts of thunder and hail. In spite of the weather, over 30 people turned up to walk the 6 km from Grace-Vaughan House to Perry Lakes for a picnic.

Colin Barnett (whose electorate covers this area) wished us well for the walk and indicated his support for the concept of a walk linking Perth to the sea via remnant bushland corridors. We propose to make this an annual walk, and to extend it from Kings Park through to Bold Park.

We welcome any input from people interested in being part of this project.

New walk signs

We are experimenting with a new form of interpretive information for the monthly walks. Instead of pamphlets we are putting little placards along the sides of the paths. These placards make it easier for visitors to understand which plants we are referring to. Please come and visit the bushland and see what you think of the new system. Your comments are welcome.

Links with schools

Dani is liaising with local schools to explore options for making use of the bushland to enrich the curriculum of students. Howard Flinders, a teacher at Quintilian School has expressed interest in developing seasonal walks as a project that students at the school could be involved in. We are looking for one of our members to help facilitate this process. If you like working with teachers and school children, and have time to walk through the bushland with a class once a month, and are able to recognize plants in the bushland (or know how to use a reference book to identify them) please let Dani know (9381 3470).

Another teacher (Graeme Spedding at Shenton College) is also interested in involving his classes in using the bushland as part of their curriculum. Dani is developing a proposal and applying for funding for this project, which will involve a collaboration between Shenton College, the University of WA, and the Friends of Shenton College. This collaboration may involve an inquiry-based online learning process in which Shenton College students conduct mini-research projects looking at co-operation and competition within the bushland. They will have access to expertise at UWA to refer to in their exploration. The outcomes of their investigations will be published on the web and contribute to our knowledge about how the bushland works. Vandalism of notice boards Our notice boards are being vandalised by spraying paint and breaking the plastic window. If you have any suggestions for dealing with this vandalism, please let Dani know (9381 3470).

Successful Bushcare Day

Thanks to all the people who turned up to help us on our Bushcare Day, and thanks also to Margo O'Byrne from the EcoPlan office at CALM for helping with organisation. It was good to tackle some big infestations of Geraldton Carnation Weed and Pelargonium.

Coming activities

Steve McCabe is running his Thursday mornings in the bushland, so if you are free between 9.00 am and 11.00 am on Thursdays. Call Steve on 9442 3575 to join in. We also work in the bushland on Sunday mornings from 8.00 am to 10.00am, meeting at 'the shed' at 8.00 to plan our activities. At this time of year we are mainly weeding, but also welcome people with other interests. For example, we will soon need help in monitoring the effect of our activities.

Next Meeting

NOTE: New location for meeting!

This will be held on Thursday 19th September at 7.30 pm at 117 Derby Road, Shenton Park.

This newsletter is produced by the Friends of Shenton Bushland.

Contributions by Janice Marshall and Daniel Boase-Jelinek.

Created by Daniel Boase-Jelinek August 2004

All photographs are copyright of Daniel Boase-Jelinek unless otherwise indicated.

The logo of the Friends of Shenton Bushland is copyright of June L. Weller

Last updated November 2006