Save Our Waterways Now Goes to Prison
Save Our Waterways Now, Enoggera Bushcare has joined forces with the Department of Corrections to grow plants for distribution to SOWN members. Recently, we have joined with another prison to assist in growing native plants grown from wild collected seed. Palen Creek Correctional Centre has started propagating and growing plants to be used for revegetation and restoration of the Enoggera Catchment and in other areas. Enoggera, Fish, and Ithaca Creeks and surrounds will benefit from this new collaboration. Borallon training correctional centre has been supplying plants to the SOWN nursery for two years after the transfer of this activity from the Arthur Gorrie Correctional Centre.
It was pleasing to see the inmate’s enthusiastic approach to growing plants they know will benefit the whole community. This nursery experience also allows them to gain TAFE certificates in horticulture. In past years we have received up to seventy thousand plants a year since the program started. Almost one million native plants have been produced in this program over twelve years since its inception.
SOWN provides seeds and seedlings, tubes, trays and our special potting mix to the prisons, which is supported by a grant from the Corrections Department. The new operation at Palen Creek Correctional Centre is located near Rathdowney and has a view of Mount Lindsey. They have rapidly set up the operation and are now growing plants as seen in the picture. A new green house has been built with benches for growing plants and includes a new automatic watering system supplied by SOWN and financed by the Corrections Department. Labour is provided by the inmates. Water is being pumped from the farm dam into the dedicated watering tank.
Most of this construction and planting has been carried out since the beginning of this year. Eventually, both prisons will help SOWN meet the growing demand for wild collected seed, native plants to be used in revegetation of our catchment.
Recommended Posts
