Mosaic Map: NRM funded projects
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site specific
region wide
Replanting and restoring Wheatbelt property
Robert and Beth Boase in their native plant nursery
Candlestick Banksia seedling on a recently replanted site
An adult Candlestick Banksia in flower
For Robert and Beth Boase, their love of the Western Australian bush has gone beyond just admiring the landscape.
In 2006 this dedicated couple planted around 30,000 native plants on their property 'Arinya' near South Dowerin in the central Wheatbelt.
"We are passionate about the natural environment, but unfortunately the original vegetation has largely gone from the Wheatbelt due to land clearing for agriculture," Robert said.
"The areas of original bush on 'Arinya' were scattered and quite oddly shaped because the way they originally cleared the land in the 1950s was to set fire to the vegetation and then the areas that got burned were cultivated and the rest was left to regenerate.
"We wanted to straighten them up a bit and then create linkages, or corridors, between some of the more significant patches to establish a more natural habitat for wildlife such as echidnas, Dunnarts, kangaroos and Black-gloved Wallabies, which are rare in this part of the world."
Funding
Robert and Beth are members of their local catchment group, the Ucarty Catchment Group.
They applied for Australian Government funding so they could purchase the plants and seedlings they needed. "We were successful in securing $13,700, which has been a great help," Robert said.
"We'd previously fenced the native bush on the property to ensure it was protected, but the new plantings have meant we can start to expand these areas.
Activities
"We run a tree nursery from the property as well so we have had to fit the plantings in around our other work, but it's something we enjoy. We hired a mechanical tree planter which made life a lot easier, but we do still have some areas left to hand plant.
"The species we've used occur naturally in the adjacent bushland and would be 60 to 70 per cent low sandplain trees, including banksias and some eucalypts, and the remainder heathland plants. So far we have replanted 23.65 hectares.
Achievements
"When we first started planting trees on the property around 30 years ago, some people thought we were a bit way out as they were still knocking their trees down, but thankfully attitudes are changing.
"If they grow successfully the new areas of bush will make our other remnants more viable in the long-term. All we need now is a bit of rain to help them grow!"
More information
- Robert or Beth Boase: (08) 9634 1047 or rcboase@hotmail.com
See also
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