This is a link to the Wedderburn Conservation Management Network Blogspot

This is a link to the Wedderburn Conservation Management Network Blogspot

News from Salisbury West Landcare Group

At the Annual Meeting of the Salisbury West Landcare Group held recently the following people were elected:-

President Helen Canfield

Vice President Aaron Lock

Secretary John Vanston

Treasurer Ruth Penny

Project Co-ordinator Jean McClymont

Publicity Officer Ian Penny

The Guest Speaker was Laurie Maxted who spoke on the recent projects of the Loddon Vale Landcare Group and the changes to water distribution in Victoria.

Our Project Co-ordinator Jean McClymont noted the following items in her report:-

Grants in progress;

Where Ground Work Widens Regeneration – Second Generation Landcare Grant - $10,000

1 km fence over 3 sites to create 3 Ha of greater diversity of habitat with a greater core area away from edge creating Linkages 30m wide and Planting 1800 tube stock trees within the overall area will expand and maximize the quality of the existing habitat, and erect the permanent signage. Landholders have the skills and equipment to erect the fences as their 50% contribution.

Sustainable Pasture Trials – Woolworths Sustainable Farm Grant - $21,500

We aim to improve soil fertility by sowing perennial pastures on weed infested areas as a measure of drought recovery. Eight farmers took part in this trial rejuvenating 160 ha of pasture

The field day in the spring of 2010 to investigate soil biota and assess trial plots for the biomass density for grazing or hay production.

A permanent sign is in place on 4 of the trial project sites.

We can proudly display our banner at any suitable function. Banner designed was done by Shannon Brown on a voluntary basis.

Box Gum Grassy Woodlands Project – $6,370

Site 1 – This area of 2.5 hectares will be fenced off, sprayed to control weeds, some 400 tube stock will be planted in a prepared area. The rest of the site will be direct seeded. These actions will allow the natural regeneration of gums, herbs and other under story plants to occur with the return of favorable seasons. The changes will create a rich and diverse ecosystem that will encourage the return of insects, bird life and small creatures who will enjoy the improved food supply these areas of remnant vegetation are important stepping stones for native fauna as they travel to the Loddon River.

Site 2 – 300 metres of fence will exclude livestock up to 30 metres from the drip line of existing yellow box trees which will provide an extra 5 hectares of enhanced linkage of native vegetation to a previous corridor already established on this block which has frontage to the Loddon River. The biodiversity conservation of this box grassy woodland and the maintenance of this healthy functioning natural ecosystem is the corner stone of our sustainable development.

Farming for Sustainable Soils – Salisbury West & Mt Korong Landcare Groups–

NCCMA participant in Caring for Country Grant = $85,000

Individual grants for windbreaks to arrest soil erosion, stubble retention and soil conditioning to promote the capture of soil carbon were made to 8 participants. An Indigenous work crew is available to help complete these NRM works.

Group Activities: $43,906 is rolling out and must be completed by September 2011.

1. Soil Testing and Learning

2. Pasture restoration and management with field trip

3. Sustainable Management for Improved Cropping Management

4. Pasture Management

Farming for Sustainable Soils – FRRR - Gardiner Foundation Dairy Industry Grant - $1267

This enables the purchase a Laptop, printer and software to support the ease of financial sustainability of our group to submit the annual BAS and acquittal of all projects now and into the future.

Loddon Plains landcare Network Bus Trip

The LPLN bus trip designed to visit three iconic wetland sites within the network’s area of concern was intended primarily to be a mixture of a social and environmentally educational event held to fit in with the Naturally Loddon Festival. At 9.05 am on the 11^th of September we set off up the Loddon Valley Highway with some forty assorted souls aboard a comfortable coach bound firstly for Bill Twigg’s farm – Nil Desperandum. Bill informed us as we went along that he and his wife, Gwen, had inherited the farm forty years back and that at that time it was in need of some TLC. The following years saw Bill and Gwen lavish much time and effort in improving the farm with special emphasis on environmentally friendly farm practices. The results were visible as we toured the farm. One of the jewels in the crown of their achievements is Bill’s creation of an artificial wetland from what was originally a dry flat paddock. This wetland has been created from scratch including the gathering and treatment of seeds used to create this wonderfully verdant environment.

We were also treated to a visit to Gwen’s refurbished pioneer cottage complete with fire burning in the grate and a realistic array of Australian memorabilia – an impressive effort.

After morning tea and light refreshments we set off further north towards Durham Ox and a stretch of the Serpentine Creek where the Maxted family have a fine homestead. Our host for this part of the trip was Laurie Maxted who has farmed for many years in this area. Laurie, a staunch environmentalist, regaled the group with aspects of the historical development of the area and indicated some of the thousands of trees planted on his farm. Upon arriving at the homestead half of our group boarded the Maxted punt for a cruise on the fairly sluggish water of the creek. This boat trip gave us fine views of the flora and fauna that make up the riparian habitat. Many species of birds were viewed and wondered at. A fine lunch followed – a change around of groups then we were off on the last leg of our journey.

We arrived at Tang Tang Swamp to be informed by Ian Hocking and Mal Brown that this wetland was ranked the sixth most important wetland out of four hundred in Victoria for the breeding of the endangered Brolga and one of five such aquatic ecosystems in the Loddon River catchment. The area is used by many species of birds and not surprisingly has a long history of aboriginal use. There is also evidence of early pioneer huts. Unfortunately, due to pressure of time we could not go into the swamp but managed to glimpse aspects as we drove round the perimeter.

The tour proved to be very successful with many favourable comments including, that it was informative to see successful farmers as living proof that profitable, productive, sustainable and environmentally friendly farm enterprises can result in the creation of resilient long term habitat and increasing landscape connectivity.

Article - Michael Moore

Photograph - Mal Brown , three generation of landcarers

Birds of the Loddon Plains - Photographs by Diana Womersley

Loddon Plains Landcare Network presents: Birds of the Loddon Plains - photographs by Diana Womersley

Wheel Cactus Injecting

Even a very bad weather forecast did not deter a hardy band of 8 volunteers from Wedderburn Conservation Management Network and Wychitella Landcare group joining 6 Parks Victoria Staff at “The Granites” (Mt Eggbert). The task was - to perform some concerted work on injecting wheel cactus in the adjacent public land managed by Parks Victoria. We were fortunate to have the use of the relatively new Mt Tarrengower trailer, complete with many injecting guns, backpacks and chemical, plus as we later discovered the all important barbeque.The team had an “induction” by Janet Richardson, the most experienced wheel cactus injector in the district, then set off to work across the flat area on the Eastern side of the road. With so many people working, it didn’t take too long to cover that area. We then tackled the area on the main reserve. Although in recent months work has been done on reducing the considerable population of cactus, they still seem to keep reappearing. As an illustration of the challenges faced with controlling wheel cactus - It was discouraging to come across a school group walking through the area, and then later discover that a number of cactus wheels had been chopped off or chopped up and left on the ground – thus allowing more plants to grow.

A hearty barbeque lunch was had amidst a few light rain showers. The weather was now looking more threatening, so we decided to call it a day. There is still plenty of work to be done in the area for another time.

Annette Robertson

I left Wedderburn early on the morning of 10^th June for Bendigo in order to board a mini bus organized by North Central CMA to visit the Biorich Demonstration site at Lal Lal near Ballarat. The attraction of this project for me was to see at first hand revegetation work which was utilizing the natural habitat design principles laid out in the book “Recreating the Country” written by Steven Murphy.

The project, developed in cooperation with Ballarat Region Tree growers (BRT) aims to design and plant a 10-hectare bio-rich demonstration plantation on the kaolin clay mine site owned by Imerys. The site is being established in a buffer zone on low-lying swampland surrounding the mine.

This project aims to integrate natural habitat for flora and fauna with farm forestry and thus achieve two goals at once; the harvesting of useful wood based products and the creation of sustainable habitat.

The design principles involve consideration of such things as choosing a diverse range of indigenous plant species grown from seed collected locally, including appropriate food source plants and the randomization of certain species to mimic natural processes. Other considerations involve the creation of five structural layers including understorey, shrub species and canopy trees and the incorporation of selected forestry species. Ongoing monitoring of the progress of the area is achieved using photopoint monitoring set up by members of a local University, aerial photography and the regular surveying of bird species in the area. To date 2,500 plants have been put in the ground and there are plans for corridors of the same sort of plantation as described which will

connect indigenous remnant vegetation on the site. As part of the tour we were split into two groups with one group viewing the conservation aspects of the site followed by a change over from conservation to production aspects.

The thinking behind the revegetation concept when compared to previous notions of simply ‘planting trees’ is more sophisticated and aimed at the construction of resilient sustainable habitat. A great deal of thought has obviously been put into planning this project. It is an exemplary project worthy of consideration by other groups involved in natural resource management.

It also seems to me that this type of enterprise has great possibilities for encouraging landscape connectivity on private land as the production / commercial /conservation blend would have a wider appeal than conventional wildlife corridors to private landholders especially farmers.

Article - Michael Moore

Photograph – Gib Wettenhall -discussion of bird surveys

Topic of Taste

FAMILIES gathered at Kamarooka to learn about the impact of salt on the
environment during Saltwatch Week. North Central Waterwatch, Bendigo Family Nature Club and Northern United Forestry Group hosted the family day at Kamarooka on Sunday 22 May 2011. Children were able to explore, taste and see first-hand the impact of salt on the environment.North Central CMA Waterwatch Coordinator Cass Davis said “Salinity can cause a number of problems including the reduction of land productivity, and reduced water quality, which not only affects aquatic life but also reduces the supply of fresh, quality water for stock and domestic use.”

Photo caption:
topic of taste: Clancy Merrick-Harvey tastes a saltbush with kids, parents
and friends from North Central Waterwatch, Bendigo Family Nature Club and
Northern United Forestry Group. Picture: Peter Weaving

Article Mal Brown

Thanks for the Help

The photograph aside shows Blaze Aid volunteers fixing a fence on the farm at Serpentine owned by Gwen and Bill Twigg.

Farming in a Changing Climate

It is estimated that the global population increases by 120 people every minute and as a result food production will need to double by 2050 to feed everyone. For the first time in history there are more people living in cities than in rural areas meaning there are less people involved in food production. There is also increasingly less land available for food production with more and more land being taken up for housing, dams and roads. This food production must also be done using less water which is being shared for use in the environment, industry and agriculture.

“The world is one poor harvest away from chaos”

Climate change has always been variable but it is acknowledged by most that it is becoming warmer and drier with more variability and more extreme events. Biological indicators of climate change include vineyards showing earlier vintages such as vintages becoming earlier by one and a half days in NSW while on the Mornington Peninsula vintage is occurring 40 days earlier than 40 years ago and Tahbilk Winery vintage is occurring 20 days earlier than 40 years ago. Plants are apolitical they just react to what’s going on around them which seems to indicate a warmer, more carbon dioxide rich environment.

Concerning food security, there is a need to increase yields and increase productivity. Australia’s 2010 wheat harvest was the highest in record, this coming off a long period of dry. Australia forms the food basket for Asia. Aussie farms can currently produce enough food to feed 60+ million people. However the yield which needs to grow by 1.5% per year is currently growing at less than 1% per year. Increasing demand is leading to increasing prices. Price increase has been on an upward trend since 2000 with prices expected to double by 2050.

Adapting Australian agriculture to this situation has seen producers adapting practices and technologies, changing farming systems and transforming farming practices.

Successful adaptations moving forward include; intensifying sustainable agriculture, increasing production while maintaining and looking after resources and enhancing input efficiency with respect to chemicals, water, nutrients, land, labour, pesticides

Soil health is critical. Australian soils are not made for cultivation and changes in farming practice include; minimizing soil disturbance by tillage, enhancing and maintaining organic matter cover on and in soil and diversification. Such diversification involves; variation in the rotations, sequences and associations of plants; the use of annuals and perennials, increasing the use of woody crops (e.g. mallee oil production) and the use of legumes. The matching of soils to enterprises, known as ‘on farm planning’, involves; cropping the best soils with highest production potential, grazing the next best soils and using the poorest soils for biodiversity (carbon credits) or woody crops (biofuels)

Summarized by Wendy Murphy from a talk given at the forum: What’s Up With The Weather?

St Arnaud 25/2/11 hosted by VFF & NCCMA

Loddon Plains Landcare Network Tour - 11th September, 2011

Tang Tang Swamp - one of the sites to be visited on the Loddon Plains Landcare Network Tour , more details of the trip and other sites will be posted soon.

Tang Tang Swamp is listed in the National Directory of Important Wetlands and is a breeding site for the endangered Brolga (Grus rubicundus) and nomadic JAMBA and CAMBA listed water birds, including the EBPC listed Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus). It is representative of shallow freshwater meadows, just one of five such aquatic ecosystems in the Loddon River catchment. It is critical habitat for Brolga and is ranked the sixth most important wetland of 400 in Victoria for Brolga breeding. Tang Tang is home to half the remaining population of Brolgas in northern Victoria (an estimated 28 birds use Tang Tang). At least 33 waterbirds have been recorded breeding in the Swam

p (NRE, 1995) including The Darter Anhinga melanogaster (Src), Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo, Little Pied Cormorant P. melanoleucos, Little Black Cormorant P. sulcirostris, Pacific Heron Ardea pacifica, Rufous Night Heron Nycticorax caledonicus (Src), Royal Spoonbill Platalea regia (Src), Yellow-billed Spoonbill P. flavipes, Black Swan Cygnus atratus, Australian Shelduck Tadorna tadornoides, Australasian Shoveler Anas rhynchotis, Purple Swamphen Porphyrio porphyrio, Eurasian Coot Fulica atra, Freckled Duck (Stictonetta naevosa) and Plumed Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna eytoni) (NRE 1995a). Notable flora includes Rush Sedge Carex tereticaulis, considered to be of very limited distribution in the Murray Valley (Beauglehole 1979).

The Swamp also holds important social and cultural values. Fourteen reported middens indicate a long history of Aboriginal use of the area (VAS 1992). Ruins of early pioneer huts also remain (A. Chappell pers. comm). The Swamp is used regularly for recreation, including bird watching.

Information and photograph by Mal Brown

Serpentine Creek - visitors will also be able to catch a glimpse of the wildlife along the environmentally significant Serpentine creek

The Serpentine Creek is a regulated natural carrier on the Pyramid Channel 12 system. Under natural conditions the creek takes flood flows from the Loddon River near Serpentine and splits the flow between the Pennyroyal and Nine Mile Creeks north of Durham Ox. Currently two outfall structures control flow to the Pennyroyal and Nine Mile Creeks. The Pennyroyal Outfall is part of the Strategic Measurement Program and is SCADA controlled. All outfall water is passed to the Pennyroyal Creek. No outfalls flow to the Nine Mile Creek.

Flows from the Loddon River via Bears Lagoon (another site on the tour), becomes Pennyroyal Creek and ends in Tragowel Swamp. Serpentine Creek is a wide (30-40 m) sluggish creek with turbid water. It has low banks with riparian vegetation of reeds, cumbungi and river red gums at Durham Ox. Good water depths (100 cm), some instream snags and aquatic vegetation. Good instream habitat. Main angling species are abundant - golden perch, redfin and European carp. Also goldfish, eastern gambusia, Australian smelt and flathead gudgeon. No recent records of Murray cod. Stocked with golden perch around Durham Ox.

Michael Moore, trip coordinator

E: emandem@iinet.net.au

Phone: 0354943542

NUFG hosts Farm Forestry and Firewood Machinery Expo

A fortnight before Easter 2011, the Northern United Forestry Group will host a major Farm Forestry and Firewood Machinery Expo that is creating great interest across south eastern Australia. Full info at:

http://www.nufg.org.au/nufg_hosts_firewood_expo.htming

Guest Speaker Program - Land for Wildlife

At our January meeting we were given a talk by Terri Williams of the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE). Terri is, among other things, associated with the Land for Wildlife program which is organised through DSE in cooperation with the Bird Observers Club of Australia. We were informed that this valuable program which began in 1981 can now claim that there are some 9,000 properties in Victoria taking advantage of the completely free and voluntary scheme. The scheme encourages private landholders to provide habitats for wildlife on their properties. One of the valuable aspects of this resides in the fact that there is a large percentage of native flora and fauna located on private land outwith the reserve system and therefore dependent upon private landholders for their survival.

We were informed that if people are interested then upon application the property in question is visited by an expert such as Terri who inspects the property and gives advice as to how it can be, if necessary, brought up to the required standard for registration as a member property. Registration as a member does not in any way alter the legal status of the property. Advice is also available on how the wildlife habitat can be managed and integrated with other uses of the property. Apart from playing a vital role in the survival of species as mentioned above the habitat can play a major role in sustainable agriculture and provide landscape connectivity. Other advantages to the scheme include; newsletters, other publications, field days and contact with like minded individuals. Membership is open to all sorts of properties from small to large. Terri can be contacted through DSE Bendigo.

Note - you get a sign like the one above to hang on the gate.

Article – Michael Moore