What a beautiful place for a day out, tucked away in the rural area is the magnificent Mcminn’s lagoon which is a public reserve. The lagoon is home to hundreds of water birds, water plants, aquatic life and still has a good amount of water in, even now at the end of the dry season. A beautiful breeze was blowing across the lagoon, which served as a fantastic backdrop to the Bushcare Major day out, where different organisations came together to tell people about the great work being done in Land management in the rural area and host a community tree planting at the lagoon. The stalls and talks were hosted in a beautifully shaded picnic area which is raised up at the edge of the lagoon.

The area is one of Litchfield Council’s recreational reserves, which is zoned for conservation. There is another reserve at Knuckey’s lagoon also with a conservation focus. Mcminn’s laggon is just over 40 Hectares and is leased and managed by the Mcminn’s lagoon Reserve Association. This association acts as a Landcare group and was started by Brian Mcwilliam more than 20 years ago when he saw the area beginning to be wrecked by motorbikes and weeds. Part of the lagoon edge was also cleared when land parcels were divided up nearby. Since then hundreds of trees have been planted, signs and tracks installed and many weeds managed. At the moment The Green Army team, hosted through Conservation Volunteers, have been working at the lagoon on Land management issues, such as weed control, carrying out wildlife camera surveys, bird counts and building up their skills in many areas.

Gerry Wood opened the day and talks were given by Parks and Wildlife on being Crocwise, Emma from Greening Australia about the Land for Wildlife program and the importance of conservation in the rural area, Patrick Skewes from NT Fire and rescue about Fire Abatement.

Those attending the day could give a gold coin donation for trees, grown by Greening Australia and plant them on the opposite side of the lagoon, enjoying a walk around.

The Green Army students who had worked for 6 months, mainly on the reserve also graduated.

Land for Wildlife coordinator, Emma Lupin was assisted on the Greening Australia tree stand and stall by long term nursery volunteer Mirielle Santoni and new Land for Wildlife volunteer Kritika Kurung.

The lagoon is in the process of registering as a Land for Wildlife Educational member and the LFW program will work with the new Green Army intakes to show them how a land assessment is done at the lagoon in the coming months.

If you would like to help Brian at Mcminn’s lagoon phone him on (08) 8988 2381 or email mcminnslagoonnt@gmail.com