Ema Munro with Dylan Harmer planting trees at Lake Wyangan. Photo: Supplied.
Griffith’s Lake Wyangan has gone from being the recreational heartbeat of the town to a toxic mess, with frequent blue-green algal blooms making it off-limits to swimmers for the past two decades.
Environmental advocate Ema Munro decided to do something about it. On Sunday (28 July) – National Tree Day – she led 36 volunteers at Lake Wyangan’s picnic area in planting over 300 native seedlings. Species planted included rushes and sedges.
The initiative was sponsored by local businesses Owen Toyota and Worm Tech, who supplied their award-winning worm castings to help give the plants a boost.
“If you can put rushes and sedges around the lake, it helps to reduce the nitrogen that creates blue-green algae,” Ms Munro said.
The root mass of rushes helps stabilise the banks and their foliage (leaves and stems) to reduce the impact and velocity of moving water. Sedges make an enormous contribution to nutrient cycling and habitat formation in these ecosystems.
The process also prevents the lake from becoming shallower.
“The shallower the lake is, the warmer the lake becomes, which also contributes to blue-green algae,” Ms Munro said.
Olivia, Hannah and Charlotte Dewing were among the volunteers to help. Photo: Supplied.
On a cold day, the band of volunteers powered through two hours of planting before retreating to a barbecue lunch supplied by Owen Toyota.
In 2023, Ms Munro also led the Tree Day planting on Bromley Road. The 200 native seedlings that were planted to attract cockatoos sadly didn’t survive against the vicious fennel weed to which the area is prone.
She has been passionate about the environment since she was a child.
“I did geography for my HSC, I studied geography at university and I became a geography teacher.
“We rely on healthy water and healthy air for everything, even with all our technological advancements, we still need our natural world, so we have to protect it.
“Planting plants is one of the easier things you can do for the planet. I’ve been involved in Tree Days for the past 30 years.
“I applied for one of council’s community grants; that went towards the aquatic plants that we used.”
All the Tree Day volunteers. Photo: Supplied.
The 52-year-old, who is on a council committee to improve Lake Wyangan, wants to see the area return to its former glory.
“It’s such a huge body of water; it would be wonderful to have it fixed. It would be so good to be able use it again.
“There’s no other recreational lake in Australia that’s used as a drain; it’s a bit of health hazard to just let the chemicals flow in it.”
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