Riparian Zone Project

The big project on the farm at the moment is to bring back to life the seasonal creek that passes through the property. The need to take care of Wadandi Boodja and part of the Mokidup catchment is foremost in our thoughts as we start this project.

The reasons behind this project have been laid out in my previous post Our Critical Water.  In this post, I explain what we are doing and where we are going. Starting with earthworks and moving through to planting.

The photo below was taken on 28 March 2024 and includes most of the area we will be planting in May 2024. The main creek flows past the north of the dam (left in the photo) whereas a spring fed system feeds the dams from the east.

 

Earthworks

This portion of the wetlands has the two existing dams that were created by previous owners. Large mounds of earth had been left all through the area which were covered in kikuyu grass and difficult to manage in any way except with grazing animals. This year we had the lower dam cleaned and the mounds flattened. We have also created access around the dam. We have been careful not to interfere any more with the creek flow (we could have made it much larger if we wanted dam the creek) as the creek is critical to the natural ecosystem.

Woody Weed Control

The main woody weed management is the Eastern states trees Corymbia maculata, Eucalyptus globulous, Eucalyptus resinifera, Eucalyptus botryoides encroaching from the north. These trees were planted by the family in 1992 and are currently being managed for fire wood, poles and mulch. In the future they will be also be managed for sawlogs. They grow extremely well in our situation and are currently happily spreading down into the creek.

There are also some Acacia longifolia that are being removed.

Over the last couple of weeks we have cut and mulched hundreds of young trees. The mulch is now waiting to be used to help grow a selection of local endemic species.

There

 

Stock Management

Locking stock out of the wetland is critical to the success of the project and we are grateful to Nature Conservation Margaret River  for their support in fencing materials.

 

Weed Management

Kikuyu grass is a huge challenge to establishing small native plants, we are following a weed management plan from Nature Conservation. While we avoid using chemicals at all costs, we appreciate that well managed use of herbicide can be necessary for establishing long term successful regeneration.  This will be implemented during April to prepare for planting in May.

Planting

A selection of plants have been ordered from Geographe Community Landcare Nursery Busselton, and we are looking forward to planting, protecting, mulching and loving these little plants. We will be planting with the group doing the Riparian Zone Rehabilitation Course and we can’t wait!

Sedges and Rushes

Juncus pallidus

Lepidosperma effusum

Lepidosperma tetraquetrum

Shrubs

Melaleuca lateritia

Melaleuca incana

Paraserianthes lophantha

Taxandria linearifolia

Viminaria juncea

Trees

Callistachys lanceolata

Melaleuca rhaphiophylla

Wildlife

To finish the project will have invited Simon Cherriman to come and spend a day with us discussing and implementing habitat for local species. Thiswill truly be the icing on the cake for a project that has been a long time coming and will occupy us for years ahead.

 

So thank you to everyone who has been involved so far. Rod Hughes and Dorothee Perez have worked tirelessly on this project. Adam Millar from Margaret River Tree Services has done a massive amount of work on the project at his own cost. Pete Lane has spent a week fencing and we’ve had a team of volunteers pulling branches, rolling wire, digging holes etc. Thanks again Nature Conservation for continual inspiration and support. Thank you to our amazing country for your resilience, we hope we can become better custodians in the future.

Please contact us if you want to come along for a week of learning and planting