Communities unite to replant the land

Landowners in Western Australia's Avon region are wearing two hats, taking on conservation as well as farming and protecting almost 2,500 hectares of native plants.

Funding

The driving force is the Living Landscapes project, funded with more than $720,000 from the Australian Government through the Avon Catchment Council, matched dollar for dollar by Greening Australia (WA) as well as sponsorship from Alcoa Australia and contributions from landholders.

The project has recruited 76 farming families to nature conservation across the landscape.

Activities and achievements

Up to 2005, 676 hectares of local native species had been replanted, 750,567 seedlings established, 369 kilograms of locally collected seed sown and more than 600 kilometres of fencing put up to protect bushland.

Over the past five years locals from South Tammin, Dowerin Lakes, Gabby Quoi Quoi, Morbinning and Wallatin Creek have embraced the concept. This groundforce has led to wide-scale change on the ground as well as a legacy of skills and knowledge.

The Rogers of South Tammin were planning to build an intensive feedlot on a ridgeline as part of a new cattle venture.

The family was surprised to learn CSIRO researchers had highlighted the ridgeline vegetation as a high value habitat type for threatened focal bird species in their area.

From this new understanding of the values that could be destroyed by intensive cattle activity came the decision to fence out 57 hectares of the ridgeline and enhance 18 hectares of woodland and mallee vegetation.

A bird survey followed in 2002 recording focal species such as the White-eared Honeyeater, Rufous Whistler and Grey Shrike-thrush.

Cindy and Jarrad Hollins in the Dowerin Lakes Catchment decided in 2001 to replant about 10 hectares of cropping and grazing country with local species as close as possible to the original vegetation before the farm was cleared.

Included in the fenced-out area is a 5.4 hectare Salmon gum/gimlet woodland, one of the few examples of native vegetation left in this heavily cleared shire (less than five per cent remaining). The idea for the project stemmed from a realisation that while the area contained some productive land, about a third of it had a tendency to water-logging and most of the high production land was under threat from salinity if changes were not made.

More information

• Anne Smith: (08) 9621 2400 or email asmith@gawa.org.au

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

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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