Windara Waterbird Recovery

Benny from Windara Communities with plantings

Windara is a beautiful spot just outside of Casino with a café, plant nursery, playground, gardens and a wetlands area. They are also a registered NDIS provider and offer opportunities for those with varying levels of ability to gain the necessary skills to take up employment in their chosen field.

The 2022 floods damaged their centrepiece dam. Community Grant funding from NRCF enabled them to purchase flora and materials and restore the wetland conservation area in an effort to attract native birdlife back. Reeds, rushes and grasses in the spillway and around the dam wall were planted to help stabilise the banks and create protection for the smaller wildlife making use of the water course.

Carrie Lee Locke, Manager at Windara Communities was humbled by the generosity of people in the region, saying:

“The community of the Northern Rivers astounds me with our resilience and care for each other at times of crisis. I think the experiences of the past 12 months and beyond have really put a focus on how we can better support people throughout and after an emergency or disaster. I think it has also shown how important community support is, especially by way of organisations such as yours who have been so focused and supportive of the ‘little guys’. The processes that are required post disaster can be very complicated at a time when there is so much going on. It has been amazing to have the support of your foundation and as a not for profit small community organisation we genuinely appreciate the assistance your foundation has given.”

The restoration work on the dam and surrounding areas not only rehabilitated the area, but was
a valuable training opportunity and meaningful task for supported staff to be involved with. A total of 38 participants worked together on the project and learned new skills. Volunteer Michelle had this to say:

“Hopefully this opportunity to replant the dam and wetland area will restore it to pre-flood state and allow one of our main features for our venue to get back to a pretty state with birdlife and other little animals to return too.”