Australasian Plant Conservation
Originally published in Australasian Plant Conservation 15(3), December 2006 - February 2007
Wild about Workshops
The last half of 2006 has been very
busy with workshops. A few glimpses follow.
Ulladulla, 25-26 October
The rehabilitation and management
of disturbed native plant communities
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 will be held in Coffs Harbour on 14-15 March 2007.
Canberra, 28-29 November
'From the ground up': a workshop on
the conservation and rehabilitation of grassy ecosystems of the ACT and region
This workshop focused on the
conservation management and rehabilitation of Natural Temperate Grasslands and
Box-Gum Grassy Woodlands, listed as endangered and critically endangered
respectively under the EPBC Act.
Including presenters and volunteer
helpers, 86 people participated in this workshop, from as far away as Adelaide,
Armidale, Lismore and Victoria. Presenters were largely local specialists but
Paul Gibson Roy (an ANPC Committee member) came from Melbourne and Peter McGee
came from Sydney. Topics covered landuse history and management strategies,
rehabilitation planning, rapid soil health assessment (Landscape Function
Analysis), soil microbes in grassland rehabilitation, conservation genetics,
guidelines for seed collection, manipulating management such as grazing, fire
and slashing, monitoring and adaptive management, and the role of volunteers.
Case studies were on re-establishing complex grasslands in Victoria by direct
seeding and grassland management for endangered fauna protection in Kuma Nature
Reserve in the Monaro region of southern NSW.
Field activities focused on
trialling components of the Grassy Ecosystems Management Kit produced by
local grasslands specialists, most of whom were involved in this workshop. Sarah
Sharp, of the ACT Government's Parks, Conservation and Lands group, was a key
organiser of the field program, aided by the energetic contribution of the other
field leaders.
We visited Little Mulligan's Flat
and the Justice Robert Hope Reserve. At each site, the group broke into four
smaller groups and rotated around four activities. In addition to the Management
Kit activities, David Tongway demonstrated his Landscape Function Analysis
technique, a highly effective method of assessing soil health. He also
demonstrated a new technique for assessing drainage line erosion risk and
status.
The field day was an increasingly
typical Canberra spring day: hot, dry and windy. Fortunately the woodland trees
provided enough shade to keep the group happily working through all the
activities.
The attendance of three community
volunteers at the workshop was sponsored by Natural Temperate Grasslands
Recovery Team, while five were funded by Department of Environment and Heritage
sponsorship.
This workshop was partly funded by
an ACT Environment Grant and Department of Environment and Heritage sponsorship.
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 Ulladulla workshop).
This workshop has been invaluable
to me as a landholder and non-scientist. Very good communication of complex
ideas. Will help me to understand my property and to work systematically towards
a management plan. Thanks. (Private landholder and participant in Canberra Grassy Ecosystems workshop).
Feedback from both these workshops
was very positive, though the evaluation forms have yet to be fully analysed.
44.7% of the Ulladulla registrants returned their evaluation forms, while 56.5%
of the grasslands registrants returned theirs. The participant quotes above were
just some 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 both these workshops,
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 these workshops and turning them into
reality.
Sally Stephens
ANPC Project Manager
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