Mosaic Map: NRM funded projects
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Planting to tackle drought damage in Granite Borders
The ongoing drought gripping Australia is costing environmental groups thousands of seedlings, and that's something one group in the Granite Borders area is hoping to redress.
"The drought and the severe winter of 2002 has seen a significant area of the Granite Borders region declared as 'exceptional circumstances'," Landcare Community Support Officer Jennie Coldham said.
"Many past planting projects suffered significant losses of young trees, undoing hours of work done by landholders and volunteers."
Funding
In 2003, the Australian Government gave more than $27,000 to the Granite Borders Landcare Committee to replant past project areas affected by the continuing lack of rain.
Activities
With the help of Mole Station Native Nursery, the Granite Borders Landcare Committee undertook a detailed review of sites where replanting had taken place, to find out which were in most need of attention.
"The average survival rate was about 70 per cent," Jennie said.
"Some sites had a 95 per cent survival rate, while on others only 10 per cent of the seedlings survived. They were the ones we focused on.
"We used local species best suited to each site, including Red Gum, Yellowbox, Bottlebrush and Wattle.
Achievements
"In 14 months we put in 28,000 seedlings on 30 different sites, over about 14 hectares."
The project covered areas of land between Deepwater in the south to just north of Tenterfield.
By encouraging landholders to prepare the ground well ahead of time, and using more cold- and drought-tolerant plants, the Granite Borders Landcare Committee hoped to increase the survival rate of seedlings through future winters and dry times.
This proved to be a wise decision. A recent follow-up found the trees are progressing well, and already birds have taken advantage of the extra nesting sites.
"The landcare network is involved with the Tenterfield Naturalists who undertake monitoring of bird species, and they and landholders have reported seeing birds nesting in trees only three feet high," Jennie said.
"We've successfully rejuvenated areas that had been really badly affected by the drought. It's useful for landholders in providing shade and shelter and preventing soil erosion, but it also has great environmental value by providing habitat for a range of species."
More information
- Jennie Coldham, Landcare Community Support Officer: (02) 6736 3500 or landcare@halenet.com.au
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