Stolen reptiles, illegal drug crops and assaults are just a few of the issues facing private landowners on the Illawarra escarpment. Bushwalk the Gong founder Jenae Johnston talks to a few about the cost of our outdoor adventures.
It is a common misconception that the bush belongs to everyone and, as locals, we all have a right to enter and play as we please.
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In the Illawarra, this mentality is well-entrenched, but it’s simply not the case.
The escarpment, or what people commonly see as “just bush”, has a mixed ownership typically shared between the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Sydney Water, mining companies and private landowners.
The degree of accessibility to the public varies significantly and can change unexpectedly throughout a walk in the “bush”.
Read more: 7 tips for safe bushwalking in the Illawarra
Here I explore the other side of the coin - how our recreational choices can harm our environment and create serious threats and costs to individuals.
We talked to a few private landowners* whose issues are all too common to others who own properties that back onto the bush.
Many of their answers are possibly what you’d expect, but some are frankly shocking. I consider myself a leave-no-trace bushwalker, so it was scary to learn what’s really going on behind the scenes.
I asked them about the impact of illegal trespassing on regeneration efforts, the environment and private land in general. Here are some of their main concerns, some obvious, some not ...
Damage to regeneration sites
You may not realise this but many local landowners are involved in significant regeneration efforts.
It is heartbreaking for owners to discover bushwalkers have strayed from established tracks to bash their way through sensitive regrowth areas and snap off small seedlings without being the slightest bit aware of the damage they cause.
Maybe a couple of these intrusions would amount to minimal damage, but when this is multiplied many times, it accumulates.
When owners have encountered bushwalkers and pointed out the damage they are causing, the usual response is “it’s just bush with lots of weeds, I’m not causing any harm”.
To find out where ownership lies before you venture out, refer to Wollongong City Council maps or simply take the smart approach: if you don’t know for sure, stick to the designated National Park trails. Be smart, be considerate, be respectful.
Dog owners
Dog owners should be aware that pets are not allowed in National Park areas. After all, there is very clear signage.
Yet many owners not only ignore these signs but have no issue with allowing their dogs to roam the bush without a leash.
Both owners and their dogs regularly trespass onto private land, disturbing regeneration sites, scarring the land and potentially killing native wildlife too.
Seed transmission
Environmentally aware hikers will be familiar with issues such as human-assisted seed dispersal, while individuals who are less informed will unwittingly spread weeds and be oblivious to the havoc it wrecks on the escarpment.
This damage can be caused by cutting down trees and bushes to make new tracks, or by discarding fruits that later germinate from the cores.
Cyperus difformis is a nasty and tough weed that has been of particular concern to landowners in the Illawarra, with new seedlings constantly popping up in the thoroughfares, most likely the result of people and dogs spreading the seed inadvertently.
Illegal bikes
There have been many reported accidents involving illegal dirt bike riders, walkers and mountain bike riders over the years.
Landowners have put up signage to make it clear that it is illegal to trespass, yet this doesn’t discourage many riders and, at times, has put owners in the firing line of abuse.
One owner has been assaulted several times but, thankfully, never seriously injured.
“In hindsight it was a large risk confronting these riders,” the owner said, adding that the numbers of riders had diminished with persistence and perseverance over time to deter riders.
Dumping sites
A significant contributor to land degradation on the escarpment is the lazy discarding of drink containers.
One owner said they typically find between five to 20 bottles tossed away a week. And that’s just bottles.
It’s not the responsibility of the landowners to pick up after trespassers, yet what choice do they have?
Poachers
Owners regularly witness individuals poaching native animals from the land.
People catch non-venomous snakes and other reptiles and, while there are large penalties for this illegal activity, it can be very hard to police.
Native crustaceans (such as yabbies), tortoises and other native mammals are also targeted by poachers.
Many escarpment landowners are focused on creating a refuge to ensure that native animals and creatures can survive and thrive in our area, while other members of the community believe it’s their right to remove animals from their habitat.
Bushfire
There is a real chance a significant fire could be started locally.
Hikers who smoke pose an increased risk, while numerous fires have been started by people affected by drugs and/or alcohol. These fires are often abandoned and still found burning the next day, left for landowners to deal with.
Those responsible for lighting fires do not have access to water or equipment to extinguish a blaze if it jumps into the dry leaf litter.
Illegal drugs
It is not uncommon for drug crops to be grown in the bush in the Illawarra.
Owners have detected dozens of abandoned cropping sites over the years.
One obvious hazard for owners is if they stumble upon an active drug crop while it is being attended.
Illegal dumping
Property access gates have been repeatedly destroyed by the ram-raiding of stolen vehicles, which are then typically abandoned and set alight on the properties.
Private land has also become a favourite local dumping site, with hundreds of tons of domestic waste left behind by individuals who have placed zero value on our wilderness.
Owners spend a considerable amount of time trying to remove the endless supply of rubbish from the steepest slopes (typical of our escarpment properties).
“I still get really angry at the selfish mindset of those that were responsible for this illegal and immoral dumping,” one owner said.
“They saved a few dollars, but inflicted a hundred-times greater cost upon us – that is just so seriously unfair.
“Every day as we struggle to carry armfuls of domestic rubbish up those steep slopes, I have to manage the disrespect I have for that small part of our society that can put themselves so far above our environment.”
Online, social media and Geocaching
Foot traffic on private land has dramatically increased with the rise of social media.
“Our property and ‘trails’ were being promoted to a larger and larger audience on social media and uninvited visitor numbers kept increasing,” a resident said.
At this point, the owners began to actively research just who was promoting their property as a public thoroughfare.
Geocaching - a ‘treasure hunt’ where an item is hidden at a location for GPS users to find by using specific co-ordinates shared online - is one of the fastest growing issues.
When the actual cache is made deliberately hard to find, geocachers are forced to intensively search areas.
Obviously if there’s only one person, the damage is minimal, but as each person finds a cache then records the event, many others follow.
The bigger the challenge, the bigger the boasting rights and the more punters it attracts. Vegetation is trampled down to bare earth in places.