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The Rehabilitation and Management of Disturbed
Native Plant Communities
Ulladulla, 25-26 October
On 25-26 October, a hundred people
(including one from Adelaide and two from Victoria) participated in a native
vegetation rehabilitation workshop on the NSW south coast. A talk on the
ecological principles underlying successful rehabilitation set people thinking,
then speakers from diverse backgrounds spoke on planning, vegetation condition
assessment, the role of lichen crusts and other soil organisms in vegetation
health, provenance of plant material, monitoring and adaptive management,
understanding stream geomorphology in foreshore rehabilitation and the
importance of supporting volunteers. Case studies included the rehabilitation of
a local wetland and an uplifting outline of the extensive Shoalhaven Coastal
Restoration project.
Most of the second day was the
demonstration and trialling of field techniques. The group was guided through
the Milton Ulladulla Landcare Nursery by about 10 nursery volunteers. As well as
observing propagation and other techniques, the very new and comprehensive
database of Shoalhaven flora was demonstrated by its developers, Mal and Carolyn
Whan. At the Narrawallee Bushcare site we broke into four groups and rotated
around four activities: soil organisms and soil health, site assessment, weed
assessment and management priorities, and monitoring techniques. This site is
maintained by the energetic Narrawallee Bushcare Group, who battle with weeds as
well as local development pressures.
Considerable excitement was
generated by David Eldridge’s elegant demonstration of how ants assist water to
penetrate soil. Water poured into a metre-high glass cylinder placed over an
insignificant depression in the sand (made by funnel ants) gurgled down in
seconds. In an adjacent cylinder with no hint of ant activity, the water hardly
moved. These tubes were barely half a metre apart - in the second the water
puddled reluctantly on the surface, revealing that the sand was hydrophobic
(water-repelling).
The final field site was Millard’s
Creek, a patch of remnant bush in the heart of Ulladulla, lovingly managed by
the hard-working but small Millard’s Creek Bushcare group. The site demonstrated
what can be achieved by a committed group but also demonstrated the challenges
they face and the need to attract more volunteers to work in these sites if the
benefits are to be maintained.
The attendance of four community
volunteers at the workshop was sponsored by the Southern Rivers Catchment
Management Authority, while three were funded by the Shoalhaven City Council.
This was the first of two coastal
workshops subsidised by the NSW Environmental Trust. The second workshop in this
series was held in Coffs Harbour on 14-15 March 2007.
Feedback and sponsorship
"I
learned a lot, confirmed a lot and made some wonderful friends and contacts. The
two-way flow of information and experiences can do nothing except help our
beautiful environment."
(Volunteer Bushcare group coordinator and participant in the Ulladulla
workshop).
Feedback from the workshop was very
positive.44.7% of
the Ulladulla registrants returned their evaluation forms.The participant quote
above was just one of the enthusiastic responses we received. Some feedback also
suggests other ideas and topics, though the two-day format clearly cannot
encompass all desires.
Sponsorship to assist the
attendance of community volunteers, such as we achieved at the workshop, will be
sought for future ANPC workshops. While our workshops provide a very generous
discount for volunteers, students and pensioners, some still cannot afford to
attend. This sponsorship was designed to target volunteer workers who would
benefit from the workshop, contribute to it and transfer their new skills to
others in their rehabilitation project. This sponsorship increases the ANPC’s
reach, particularly to local landholders.
Without the specialist presenters,
who gave their time freely and enthusiastically, there would be no workshop. The
same is true of the registrants who bring to the workshop their experience,
enthusiasm and willingness to learn and to share. A huge thanks goes to all
those who participated in developing the workshop and turning it into reality.
Sally Stephens
ANPC Project Manager
This report is extracted from an
article published in
Australasian Plant Conservation 15(3)
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