Lake Macquarie council has been successful in a remarkable environmental restoration at Jewells.
More than five hectares of former sandmining land was being strangled out by trees off Fencott Drive,
In September 2021, the council began a restoration project which involved burning out the whole area.
The council’s natural assets co-ordinator Dominic Edmonds says the groundbreaking “ecological burn” has helped transform a degraded tract of coastal scrub into a thriving ecosystem bursting with healthy native vegetation.
Almost 30 new species have been logged on the site so far, including 10 that haven’t been recorded in the area before.
The project’s success has prompted plans for a similar ecological burn nearby, likely to occur this winter.