From impenetrable scrub to highly biodiverse wetland ecosystem

/in /by

Through community collaboration, an exhausted quarry has been turned into a public reserve managed for biodiversity conservation and public recreation.

The Putta Bucca Wetlands reserve is situated on the site of an abandoned aggregate quarry, just a stone’s throw from the Mudgee town centre. The site was opened to the public in 2011 and since that time has been undergoing extensive restoration and rehabilitation works.

The name Putta Bucca is an aboriginal word thought to come from the Wiradjuri language, “puttaba” meaning a hill near a creek and “bugga” meaning stinking fish.

The Putta Bucca Wetland is a public reserve managed by Mid Western Regional Council. Rehabilitation works at the site have been a collaborative community project, supported by Mid Western Regional Council, Central Tablelands LLS, Watershed Landcare and many volunteers. Mid Western Regional Council has been successful in securing some $5-6k in grant funding to conduct works at the site, such as weed removal and re-vegetation.

To date 5000 trees, shrubs and grasses have been planted by the Friends of Putta Bucca volunteers, Green Army, Council, local schools and community planting events for National Tree Day.

Wetlands are one of the most biologically diverse of all ecosystems. The rehabilitation works conducted at the site have significantly increased habitat value and Putta Bucca is now supporting a highly biodiverse wetland ecosystem, despite it’s relatively small size of 31 hectares.

The wetland now boasts a multitude of birdlife, as well as many frog, fish, reptile and mammal species, including the platypus. The site is renowned amongst birdwatchers with a growing list of over 160 bird species, including 12 threatened species and now rates as the 55th bird hotspot in N.S.W.

Image of Pink-eared Duck courtesy of Mark Leary.

The site is also used as a stopover by animals passing through the area, such as the Swamp Wallaby and the threatened Painted Honeyeater, and is an important breeding ground for migratory bird species, including the Rainbow Bee-eater.

While wildlife is thriving at Putta Bucca, future plans for the site include further improvements to recreational facilities to attract more human visitors to the site.

Council has been successful in their application for Stronger Country Communities grant funding which will be utilised to build a new bridge over the Cudgegong River and allow for linking walking trails from Lawson Park to the reserve. There are also plans to build a toilet block and a commitment by Glencore to fund works at the site over the next 3 years, commencing with a covered barbeque area.

Planning for a resilient and sustainable environment for our future

/in /by

Watershed Landcare is a grassroots community organisation and we work together with our community to support an integrated, productive and sustainable approach to land management. The group has been active in our region for 21 years, working with the community to encourage positive change and progress from a people, prosperity and environmental point of view.

Our area covers approximately 900,000 ha (9000 km²) stretching to Gulgong in the north, Burrendong Dam in the west, the Turon River in the south and the Wollemi National Park in the east. Members include established landholders, town and village residents, land managers, people with country retreats and local businesses.

Our activities, field days, workshops, seminars and projects focus on topics of importance to our members, and consultation with our community is an important aspect of the planning process.

As well as conducting a survey, the group recently held a project planning session. The Management Committee and Coordinators met with members and representatives from the wider community to identify and design projects that meet the groups’ strategic objectives as well as community needs.

The group brainstormed project ideas to engage, empower and support our community to achieve a resilient and sustainable environment within our district. The day was very successful with many great ideas flowing.

Making Plans: Identifying and designing projects that meet the groups’ strategic objectives as well as community needs.

Watershed Landcare’s priorities will continue to focus on projects and activities that address sustainable agriculture, improving soil and grazing management and biodiversity, including the protection of threatened and vulnerable species and communities.

Raising awareness of issues relevant to our local environment and supporting people to create change through capacity building and sharing of knowledge and skills remain important core values to the organisation.

Do you have a great idea for an event or project we could run, want to get involved or want to find out more about what we do?

Visit our website, www.watershedlandcare.com.au, or contact one of our Coordinators, Claudia Wythes on 0412 011 064 or Agness Knapik on 0435 055 493 or email: info@watershedlandcare.com.au.

Join Us

For only $44 per year, you will, receive newsletters about our events, and other activities we think might interest you.

Be the first to know about our on-ground projects, and be eligible to benefit from grant incentives. Gain free or discounted entry to our events.

Imagine it took more than a 100 years to build your home?

/in /by

Well if you are a small animal, such as the eastern pygmy-possum, then it might take 100 years for a tree to grow large enough to develop a hollow suitable for you to nest in. If you are a parrot or an owl, and require a larger, deeper hollow, then it might take 200-300 years to develop.

A large variety of creatures rely on hollows for nesting or breeding habitat; from tiny microbats, possums and gliders, to owls, cockatoos and other parrots. And they all have different requirements and preferences as to the size and shape of the of the opening, and the depth, volume and extent of insulation of the cavity.

A range of hollow types is necessary for biodiversity and the presence of old, mature trees in the landscape is crucial.

Image of Superb Parrot courtesy of Mark Leary.

Hollows occur primarily in old eucalypt trees, where formation by wind breakage of limbs, lightning strike or fire, termite, insect or fungal damage is less likely to be covered by growth of external sapwood. Hollows with large internal dimensions are particularly rare and only occur in large, old trees with sufficient trunk diameter.

Hollows are becoming an increasingly scarce resource for hollow dependant species, those that rely on hollows for shelter and nesting, either on a daily or seasonal basis. The loss of hollows can lead to local extinctions of these species.

Many of our mature old trees are isolated and under stress, or reaching the end of their life span, and natural recruitment is rare, particularly in agricultural areas where woodlands have been converted to crops and pastures.

This is part of the reason why many of our large hollow-nesting birds, including the Glossy Black Cockatoo and Superb Parrot, are vulnerable or endangered. The loss of tree hollows has been listed as a key threatening process by the NSW Scientific Committee.

What can you do?

  • Retain live and dead hollow bearing trees
  • Protect vegetation which produce hollows
  • Plant local native species that produce hollows

Watershed Landcare have launched our ‘A Home Among the Gum Trees’ project and we are seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from landholders in our region to protect mature hollow bearing paddock trees on the land they manage. Funding of $7,000 is available to conduct on-ground works which protect mature habitat trees, the project is now open for EOIs and will close on 15 February.

For more information or to submit an EOI, visit our website: http://watershedlandcare.com.au/projects.

The Watershed Landcare ‘Home Among the Gum Trees’ Project is supported by Local Land Services through funding from the Australian Government and is a component of the Driving Corridor Connectivity Project funded through NLP2.

Important environmental factors about our Box Gum Woodlands

/in /by

Box Gum Grassy Woodland is the shortened name given to the endangered ecological community ‘White Box, Yellow Box, Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland’. This community is characterised by a sparse shrub layer, a diverse mix of native grasses and herbs, and is dominated by the eucalypts White Box, Yellow Box and/or Blakely’s Red Gum. Grey Box may also dominate or co-dominate in the Nandewar Bioregion.

Prior to European settlement Box Gum Grassy Woodlands were widespread along the western slopes and tablelands of The Great Dividing Range, occurring from Southern Queensland through to Central Victoria. Despite this wide ranging distribution, Box Gum Grassy Woodlands are rather specific in the geographic and environmental factors governing their distribution.

Soil fertility is the most important environmental factor governing the localised distribution of Box Gum Grassy Woodlands. They are closely associated with fertile clay loam soils of moderate depth on flat to undulating terrain, along the lower slopes of the Tablelands and Western Slopes in New South Wales. Within the Watershed Landcare region they occur mainly in areas with a 550 mm to 800 mm annual rainfall and an elevation below about 700 m above sea level.

On steeper, less arable and rockier ground, Dry Sclerophyll Forest replaces Box Gum Grassy Woodland. Dry Sclerophyll Forest may be dominated by the same tree species but the understorey is predominately shrubby, rather than a grassy one.

Today less than 4% of Box Gum Grassy Woodland remains, much of which is highly fragmented and in poor ecological condition. The productive and fertile clay loam soils are the reason, because when Europeans settled an area for agricultural purposes they would have first chosen the most productive parts of the landscape.

Many large hollow bearing trees of the Box Gum Grassy Woodlands are isolated and under stress, or reaching the end of their life span. Natural recruitment is rare due to much of the Box Gum Grassy Woodlands being converted to crops and pastures. Large hollow bearing trees provide habitat for a myriad of insects, birds, reptiles and mammals, shade for livestock, and give the landscape its quintessential Australianness. These trees cannot be replaced in the short to medium term and need to be protected from the added nutrients of livestock camps and the cultivation of soil close to their root system.

Watershed Landcare have launched our ‘A Home Among the Gum Trees’ project and we are seeking expressions of interest (EOI) from landholders in our region. Funding of $7,000 is available to conduct on-ground works to protect mature hollow bearing paddock trees in Box Gum Grassy Woodland. EOIs close 15 February.

For more information or to submit an EOI, visit our website.

The Watershed Landcare ‘Home Among the Gum Trees’ Project is supported by Local Land Services through funding from the Australian Government and is a component of the Driving Corridor Connectivity Project funded through NLP2.