Mosaic Map: NRM funded projects
Key
site specific
region wide
Massive land repair project near Bacchus Marsh
Planted in 2002, healthy trees and shrubs continue to flourish
More plantings of trees and shrubs on southern slopes
Tree plantings on Jensz's property help fight salinity and provide biodiversity corridor links with remnant vegetation
An ambitious project to restore ecological health and productivity to 10,000 hectares of degraded land north-west of Melbourne has won the support of all levels of government, the corporate sector and the community.
Grow West is a major initiative of the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority (CMA), helping landholders control erosion, salinity and weeds by growing tens of thousands of native trees and establishing farm forest plantations.
Funding
Grow West has been allocated more than $600,000 over four years from the Australian Government, and $340,000 from the Commonwealth Games Tree Planting Project. The Victorian Government has also provided cash and in-kind contributions.
Further funding and support has come from companies such as Medibank Private, whose staff volunteer to plant trees, and E-Tree, an initiative of Computershare and Landcare Australia in which a donation is made each time a shareholder elects to receive a non paper-based annual report.
The philanthropic Norman Wettenhall Foundation has also given $22,500 to the project.
Other Grow West supporters include the Department of Primary Industries; local Landcare groups; the municipalities of Moorabool, Melton and Wyndham; Melbourne Water and Southern Rural Water.
Activities and achievements
The project has replanted 1,500 hectares of private land on the undulating slopes of the Pentland Hills and Rowsley Valley near Bacchus Marsh.
Grow West Program Coordinator John Forrester said the landscape looked remarkably different from when tussock grass was dominant, encouraging pests like rabbits and foxes.
"Replanted native trees prevent the spread of the grass, which was one of the prime reasons why the project got going," John said. "It had invaded wide tracts of land, dominating pastures and resulting in a significant loss in livestock production.
"Today you can see the vegetation links developing in the gullies and along the rivers, which will help to control the grass and reconnect the biodiversity-rich areas isolated from land clearing such as Wombat Forest, Werribee Gorge and the Brisbane Ranges.
"In time the vast project area will be completely transformed into a wonderful mosaic of native trees, plantations and productive pastures. Grow West is really a romantic vision coming true."
An annual Planning the Plantings workshop is held for interested landholders, at which they begin the process of developing a farm revegetation plan by identifying parcels of land for restoration.
More information
- John Forrester, Grow West Programme Coordinator: (03) 5366 0039 or john.forrester@dpi.vic.gov.au
- Port Phillip & Westernport CMA website: www.ppwcma.vic.gov.au/projects_key_grow.htm
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