New signs in Bermagui aim to educate the community about an important coastal habitat in its town's golf course.
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South East Local Land Services (SELLS) and Bermagui Country Club, with support from the Climate Proofing Coastal Saltmarsh project, have installed signs on the Bermagui golf course to educate players and the community about the importance of maintaining healthy coastal saltmarsh habitats.
"These signs not only educate golfers on why it is important to protect saltmarsh while golfing, but also the general community as many non-golfers walk through the course each day," the country clubs' manager Robert Beuzeville said.
"Hopefully over time having the signs here will add to the community's appreciation and understanding of the site."
Coastal saltmarshes provide feeding and breeding habitat for native fish, birds and crustaceans, act as filters for nutrients and sediments, help to reduce erosion and and maintain water quality.
"Coastal saltmarshes are also an amazing and important carbon sink," SELLS' Sonia Bazzacco said.
"They can absorb as much as two to four times the amount of carbon as tropical rainforests.
"The Bermagui Country Club is lucky to have some very significant wetland communities on the course, hopefully the signage will help to inform the community about just how special these places are and promote that understanding of why they should be looked after."
The installation of the educational signage is the next step in what has become a strong relationship between Local Land Services and the country club.
Other works include the rehabilitation of important saltmarsh and mangrove habitats located across the golf course.
Three years ago Local Land Services funded the removal of over half a hectare of dense Norfolk Island hibiscus, an invasive native species, which has transformed the area into a healthy coastal saltmarsh community frequented by many bird species.
The works have been noticed by the community as well as the birds, according to country club course superintendent Dave Thomson.
"As the saltmarsh has re-established I and the golfers have noticed an increase in the diversity of birds that frequent the area, especially wetland birds," he said.
The signage project is supported by SELLS, through funding from the Australian Government's National Landcare Program.
