Rebuilding Reedy Creek

The decade-old Reedy Creek Landcare Group in the Australian Capital Territory has planted 35,750 trees, built 12,240 metres of fencing and placed 680 tonnes of rock to filter erosion, to restore the 5,000 hectare Reedy Creek catchment.

Landcare coordinator and grazier John Rees, who runs sheep on about 500 acres, said it was easier to make conservation part of his day-to-day business than to repair the land in the future.

"The one thing we've learned is that the cost of rehabilitation is far greater and harder than the cost of conservation," John said. "We've got to make conservation part of our every day management."

Funding

This massive volunteer effort, which earned the Group a Rivercare Award, was funded with about $193,000 from the Australian Government's Natural Heritage Trust, with in-kind contribution from the ACT Government.

Activities

Over three years, the Group's tree and shrub planting programme has resulted in three major wildlife links from Reedy Creek to the Kowen Escarpment and into the Molonglo Gorge.

Tons of large rock was placed on filter membrane at nine active erosion points identified along Reedy Creek to minimise erosion. Four stock and vehicle crossings with floodgates were stabilised and old dams repaired and new ones built to provide sediment traps.

Achievements

The 12 kilometres of fencing put in along the creek to exclude stock has created stabilised buffer zones for sediment and nutrients from adjacent land and reduced water contamination by animals. As a result, grasses and ground cover have regenerated.

"It's worth it," John said. "The pastures are better with the windbreak and the wildlife population has certainly increased. Some were disappearing, but now the water dragons have returned and begun to colonise other pools along the creek."

"There is a big increase in bird numbers around the creek including Hooded Robins, Finches and Honeyeaters, which is due to the smaller shrubbery because they are understorey dwellers. The increase in butterflies is mainly because the grasses have become established."

The Group's next step is to tackle weeds such as willows, serrated tussock, blackberry and sweet briar which have already been controlled across the catchment, but require follow-up work.

"These are things that people wouldn't have done without the Natural Heritage Trust because they just wouldn't have had the resources, let alone the inclination," John said.

More information

1. John Rees, Reedy Creek Landcare Group, 02 6297 1160 or zutaholdings@bigpond.com.au

Australian Government NRM Team
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
1800 552 008 (toll-free)

DEWHA  | DAFF  | australia.gov.au  | NAP  | NHT 
Caring for our Country is an Australian Government initiative jointly administered by the Australian Government departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts