Mosaic Map: NRM funded projects
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International students join to help restore Brockman River
An international contingent of students from Britain, Canada and America plus trainee pilots from Singapore have helped locals replant Western Australia's Brockman River Catchment - which carries silt and brackish water - and Ellen Brook Catchment, one of the largest contributors of nutrients to the Swan River.
This effort is driven by the Ellen Brockman Integrated Management Group and the Swan Catchment Council, and takes place over 2,300 square kilometres.
Project Manager Rosanna Hindmarsh said Ellen Brook was a priority catchment in the Swan-Canning river system because it contributed more phosphorus by load than any of the other 31 sub-catchments.
Funding
More than $640,000 Australian Government funding has been provided for the work. The Western Australian Government has also provided support.
Activities and achievements
"To help stabilise the nutrient load we completed 26 kilometres of fencing, to protect the river, remnant vegetation as well as to create wildlife corridors," Rosanna said. "We planted 89,000 native trees including rushes and sedges and our projects cover 22 landholders, five public open spaces and Department of Defence land."
A series of workshops were held to help landholders get involved, including Know your Groundwater, which attracted 24 landholders in the Marbling sub-catchment. Their water samples were tested for acidity and salinity and locals saw the extent of their resources and how to look after them.
The Wandoo Recovery Survey workshop showed 15 landholders how to assess and survey woodland on their properties to monitor the health of the trees. A soil workshop for 20 landholders canvassed soil fertility, the importance of nutrients and minerals to plant growth, how to take soil samples and how to read a soil analysis.
"On planting days we had a group of international students who spent 13 days with the group planting trees," Rosanna said. "They were very willing workers and they really enjoyed themselves, planting about 30,000 trees. We also had trainee pilots based at the Pearce RAAF Base, who planted 8,000 plants in a morning's work."
The project also established 50 hectares of perennial pastures on light sandy soils in Wannamal, which are prone to wind erosion, in a bid to encourage sustainable grazing practices on farms.
More information
- Ellen Brockman, Integrated Management Group: (08) 9571 0400 or rosannah@iinet.net.au
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