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