A ‘remarkable’ effort sees local land revegetated

A total of 90 hectares of land on 10 private properties west of the Mount Remarkable range were revegetated during May and June thanks to a collaborative effort by landholders and Natural Resources Northern and Yorke.

As part of the Mt Remarkable to the Sea: Upper Spencer Gulf Coastal Riparian Linkages project funded by the Australian Government, staff from Greening Australia worked alongside landholders to plant out 9000 seedlings.

To protect the revegetation areas from grazing, 6 kilometres of fencing was also erected on four of the properties by local fencing contractors Noreen and Peter Arthur, and landholders were given weld mesh to make tree guards to protect seedlings.

The properties stretched from Winninowie Conservation Park in the north, to Weeroona Island in the south.

Landholder Colin Wauchope’s Baroota Creek Olives was among the properties to benefit from the project and he says the work conducted has helped him along hugely.

“The amount of planting that has occurred on my property through this project, I would not have been able to achieve in 10 years despite my best efforts,” he says.

“There’s just no way financially or time-wise that we could have done this, even though it’s something that’s been on our wish list for a long time.”

Colin’s organic farm produces fat lambs, olives for oil and pickling, and rockmelons, watermelons and pumpkins and he says the revegetation project and associated fencing will have numerous benefits.

“We’re now able to lock off some of our property that was potentially an erosion problem, and keep the stock out and revegetate some of that area,” he says.

“It’s a multiple use project because we’ll also benefit from the windbreaks, shelterbelts for stock, it protects the soil, will bring in more wildlife, and I see in the future the added value of it being a place we’ll be able to collect seed from.

“Also, being organic farmers, whilst we have a really good relationship with our neighbours, the revegetation will create a shelter belt between us and our neighbour’s traditional farming practices.”

The Mt Remarkable to the Sea project aims to enhance and protect the environment. Revegetation areas are placed with an aim to connect to existing native vegetation to create corridors of habitat for native animals from the ranges to the coast.

Weed control in creeks and coastal areas is another important aspect of the project.

A further 60ha of land is being sought for revegetation in 2015. Interested landholders are encouraged to contact Natural Resources Northern and Yorke community ranger Sarah Voumard on 8658 1086.