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