About FOSF


The Friends of Sherbrooke Forest Inc. was formed in 1980 primarily to help the then Forests Commission restore and maintain an urban forest threatened by a suburban setting which inevitably generates pest plants and animals.  A major part of our work involves bush regeneration.

 FOSF volunteer removing a weed. 
Roots of weedy trees like Holly and Sycamore Maple must first be uncovered before drilling them and filling the holes with herbicide. These roots will need about 10 or 12 holes! 
The Velpar pack on ground at right holds herbicide and is fitted with an injector that delivers a predetermined dose. 


We presently have about 30 members, with approximately 20 active volunteers.  Volunteers are always welcome to join a work party - you don't have to be a FOSF member.  Just pick a weeding party at a time that suits you. 
Our main activities are listed below.  : 

Weeding Parties 
  • 09:30 on the second Wednesday each month
  • 13:30 on the fourth Saturday each month
  • 09:00 on Tuesday mornings -- except the second Tuesday each month
 
We usually have 5-15 members at our weeding parties and non-members are encouraged to join us as well.  Everyone is welcome.  We have spare tools with us for people who don't have tools of their own.
 
The venues for Saturday work parties are listed both in our Newsletter and on our Current Event Schedule page.

 

Lyrebird Surveys
 
Our group has strong ties with the  Sherbrooke Lyrebird Study Group   and many of our members belong to that group as well as FOSF.  As a result, we include their "Dawn Surveys" on our events schedule and encourage everyone to take part in the important work of monitoring the population of lyrebirds.

Vegetation Surveys
 
 The first survey programme was concluded in 2001 after some 16 years. The data, which includes both indigenous plants and weeds, has been entered into a database and can be used to pinpoint weeding sites or to describe locations of specified plants .

Newsletter
 
 Forest Focus is produced about three times a year.  It helps us keep members informed of upcoming events and pass on important notes. 

Newsletters have been produced since 1980.  Previous editions have been digitised and requests can be emailed to our Webmaster.

Publication of Forest Information
 
A booklet entitled "Weeds of Forests, Roadsides and Gardens" was researched and brought to publication stage by our members. It was published by the then Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands in 1985 and reprinted in 1989.  Unfortunately, this publication is now out of print but is available on CD on application to the Webmaster.

A second publication about the indigenous flora and history of Sherbrooke Forest has been printed recently.  See Newsletter page on this site .
 
Committee Meetings 
The FOSF committee meets bi-monthly to discuss matters of interest such as mail to and from interested parties [students, friends groups, government officials etc], progress of work, future weeding and survey sites.

Water Watch
 
In 2003 we undertook Water Watch, an activity organised by Melbourne Water which monitors the condition of waterways in Victoria.  Since then we have been checking Monbulk Creek near the Trestle Bridge in Selby and Hardy Creek near its  junction with Monbulk Creek at intervals of about six weeks.  We measure a number of physical and chemical properties and also record a variety of waterbugs (more properly "Macroinvertebrates") e.g. amphipods.  These observations are a good indication of the health of the creeks.