Trust for Nature (Victoria)

East Gippsland

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Assistance for fire-impacted covenantors

Trust for Nature is pleased to announce that the organisation has been successful in obtaining funding through the Supporting Communities and Habitats in Fire Impacted Landscapes project.

This two-year project is funded through the Victorian Government’s Bushfire Recovery Victoria program, jointly funded by the Victorian Government and Commonwealth Government under the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

During the 2019-20 summer bushfires, vast areas of native vegetation and millions of native animals were impacted. Communities within these areas have been greatly affected and the impact of these bushfires on wellbeing has been immense.

Thanks to this project, Trust for Nature will be able to work with landholders with a Trust for Nature conservation covenant within the shires of Alpine, East Gippsland, Indigo, Mansfield, Towong, Wangaratta and Wodonga.

Webinars and field days will be held on habitat recovery and will provide landholders with opportunities to meet others and talk about their experiences of bushfire recovery.

Monitoring will continue on fire-impacted covenants and will be established on covenants that are providing important refuge areas for flora and fauna. Landholders have the opportunity to be trained in Trust for Nature’s monitoring techniques, enabling citizen science to support recovery efforts.

Funding will also be available for eligible landholders for a range of activities including weed control, revegetation and installing nest boxes.

Over the next few months, an expression of interest process will identify landholders with conservation covenants who would like to be involved in the project.

“Trust for Nature works closely with landholders to permanently protect nature on private land. This project will support landholders with conservation covenants in bushfire impacted areas to recover from the 2019-20 summer fires,” said North East Area Manager, Amelia Houghton.

“There is a direct link between environmental health and community health, which were both severely impacted by the bushfires. This project is exciting as we can work directly with landholders, enhancing their wellbeing through the habitat recovery process,” said Gippsland Area Manager Robyn Edwards.

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Safeguarding Gippsland Lakes’ plants and animals

On a property near Bairnsdale stands a paddock containing Snow Gums that are unique to the immediate area and locally rare for the Gippsland Plains.

Despite being only minutes from Bairnsdale, the property is secluded with hidden, steep gullies and escarpments overlooking two creeks, Smiths and Ballantine. It’s these features that prompted the Irish family to buy it in 2012.

Owner Danny Irish said, “I was so surprised when I first saw them as the landscape changes so dramatically and it is not obvious from the property entrance.

“It was clear the property had been over-grazed and that the remnant Snow Gums (at the time I thought they were Red Gums!) were struggling. Even so I was so struck with the property that we made an offer that day and after a short settlement we became the new owners.”

The Snow Gums on the Gippsland Plains are related to those of the high country in Victoria; however ecologists suspect the ones on the Gippsland Plains could be a new sub-species since the populations have been separated for millennia and opportunities for gene flow have been very limited.

The trees were unable to thrive and spread due to heavy cattle grazing previously. Water holes were also muddy bogs, soils were compacted, creek lines were trampled, and native plants were facing stiff competition from introduced species.

Trust for Nature is working with the Irish family to protect and enhance the Gums, creeks and wetlands on this special property as part of a project to protect fringing wetlands around Jones Bay and Lake King.

The support helps landholders to fence off the property’s most southerly escarpment and revegetate it with hundreds of indigenous trees, shrubs and grasses.

The Trust’s Senior Conservation Officer, Paul Harvey said the ultimate aim of the project, which also involves other properties in the area, is to protect the health and biodiversity of the Gippsland Lakes. He said, “Despite the drought, the area has responded very well.

“In the absence of stock, native plants are springing back and the majority of the planted tube stock are surviving and thriving.

“At least three species of ferns have naturally regenerated as well as a colony of Blue Star Sun-orchids, which appeared in spring and displayed their beautiful flowers.”

The improvements on the Irish property benefit nearby valuable wetlands.

The creeks in the area merge just a short distance away and flow into a wetland site (which is protected with a conservation covenant), and MacLeod’s Morass, a 520 ha freshwater marsh managed by Parks Victoria.

These fringing wetlands and creeks draining into the Gippsland Lakes provide critical habitat for hundreds of plant and animal species. East Gippsland Water is also restoring swamp scrub as part of the project.

Danny said he’s looking forward to seeing the regrowth on his property. “I am noticing a lot more fauna activity so it will be great to see how that responds in the next five years. Longer term I would like to provide permanent water for the fauna that has returned to the area.

“The seasonal creek has a couple of water holes that have filled up with silt from previous flooding events and erosion. I would like to clean these out so we have a permanent water source for the local fauna,” Danny said.

“I also want to establish better access roads through the site. These would allow access for weed control, firefighting and general enjoyment of the site.”

He said the help from organisations like Trust for Nature has helped make his dream to transform the property a reality much sooner.

“My initial intentions with the property were to fence off the larger gullies and allow the vegetation to regenerate naturally.”

He also acknowledges that managing the land for conservation outcomes is a lot quicker and easier with the mix of support he has got from lots of organisations working in the area.

He said, “This was a long term plan and not likely to occur immediately due to other demands on both my time and finances. We are at least 10 years ahead thanks to the support of Trust for Nature, Gippsland Plains Conservation Management Network, Greening Australia, and the East Gippsland Landcare Network.”

The Protecting Fringing Wetlands – Jones Bay project is funded by the Victorian Government for the Gippsland Lakes.

Main photo: Snow Gum on the Irish property
Inset photo: Thelymitra Sun Orchid

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Rare orchid faces fight to survive

There is great concern for the survival of an unusual orchid at a site in East Gippsland.

The Tangle Orchid, Plectorrhiza tridentata, was recorded on the west bank of the Snowy River for the first time late last year however it could now be one of hundreds of threatened plants feared at risk of extinction in the area.

The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning estimates that almost all known warm temperate rainforest plant communities in Far East Gippsland have been impacted by the bushfires.

The Tangle Orchid is one of their species of concern, with almost 90 per cent of its known habitat burned.

The orchid was found in a rainforest gully on a private property with a conservation covenant at Bete Bolong North in November 2019 during a weed control program as part of the Arklink initiative.

It is one of just three epiphytic orchids in Victoria, meaning they grow on the surface of a plant and get moisture and nutrients from the air.

Trust for Nature’s Conservation Officer, Paul Harvey, said epiphytic orchids are very fire sensitive.

He said, “Their host plants—Lilly Pilly and Kanooka—are also very fire sensitive, so the bushfires are really bad news for the Tangle Orchid as well as for all other rainforest plants and animals.”

Local landholder Kevin Heyhoe, whose property the orchid was found on, is devastated by the loss of habitat. He said, “I lost my fences and the old farm house, but I was more gutted to lose the rainforest gully.

“I’ve put so much into it, weeding and planting trees that are now probably gone. Do you know that proverb? About planting trees under whose shade you’ll never sit? That’s the way I feel about my rainforest gully and the rare orchids. It’s heartbreaking.”

His property also provided habitat for a number of other threatened species including the Snowy River Wattle and White-bellied Sea Eagle.

As soon as it is safe to do so, Trust for Nature will work with Kevin to assess the impact the fires have had on his conservation covenant and look at ways to try to recover rainforest plants, including the Tangle Orchid.

Arklink has been funded by the Victorian Government’s Biodiversity Response Planning program and is helping to ensure that Victoria’s natural environment is healthy, valued and actively cared for.

Trust for Nature is one of Australia’s oldest conservation organisations, established by an Act of the Victorian Parliament in 1972 to protect habitat on private land. It is a not-for-profit organisation that relies on the generosity of supporters to help protect Victoria’s biodiversity.

Trust for Nature has set up a Bushfire Habitat Recovery Fund to help landholders who have conservation covenants impacted by fires.

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Bushfire message from Trust for Nature CEO

Our thoughts are with all Victorians who have been affected by the devastating fires in Gippsland and the north east of the state.

Our thoughts are also with covenantors who have been affected.

It is likely that at least 40 landholders with conservation covenants have been impacted so far, in addition to Trust for Nature’s own reserve at Maramingo. Using available information including maps and the knowledge of the regional staff, Trust for Nature is working as quickly as it can to understand who and what has been affected by the fires.  As soon as we can the Trust will do what it can to support these landholders with recovering habitat on their properties.

It is timely to consider the significant contribution which covenantors make to the care of Victoria’s environment.  Covenantors work continuously to look after their land—often over many, many years— for the benefit of our plants and animals and for us.  Trust for Nature’s connection with covenantors is ongoing and we want to do all we can to assist those who have been impacted by the fires at this time. In due course and when covenantors are ready.

For those outside affected areas who want to support recovery action on covenants, Trust for Nature has set up a Bushfire Habitat Recovery Fund for donations towards the extra costs incurred for Trust for Nature and landholders to work together to restore habitat. You will find more information and/or can donate through our website.

This is not for emergency support; it is for habitat restoration in the medium to long term for covenanted properties directly impacted by the fires. Anyone wanting to support emergency efforts in general can donate to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.

As our supporters will know, our work is regional and across Victoria.  This means that we have staff who live in affected areas and who have been impacted by the fires personally.  We are focused on providing them with support through this very hard time.

If you have any questions or comments please do not hesitate to call us on 8631 5888.

Sincerely

Victoria Marles
CEO, Trust for Nature

Photos courtesy of DELWP.

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Landholders urged to keep fallen trees for wildlife

Trust for Nature is urging landholders impacted by bushfires to keep as much fallen wood on the ground as possible

Trust for Nature is urging landholders impacted by bushfires to keep as much fallen wood on the ground as possible.

Unfortunately thousands of trees have been killed by the fires and are now lying on the ground, prompting some property owners to feel the need to ‘clean up’.

However Trust for Nature’s Conservation Science Advisor Dr Doug Robinson said it’s important that they leave as much fallen wood as possible to help with the natural recovery of ecosystems and survival of wildlife.

He said, “As a landholder it can be disheartening to see lots of burnt timber on the ground and it can look messy, but wildlife, fungi and plants need this woody habitat now more than ever.

“Animals need hollow logs to live in and fallen tree trunks to hide under—particularly when landscapes can be bare and leave animals exposed to predators,” Doug said.

The logs also help provide shade, moisture and shelter for plants and protection from increased grazing pressures from animals such as deer.

Decaying timber also provides food sources for insects and is vital in kick-starting the food chain again because it increases soil activity for insects and arachnids and in-turn provides food for larger native mammals.

Any timber, dead or alive, is also important for fungi—a food source for many animals, particularly bandicoots and potoroos which have been so heavily impacted by the fires.

Doug said, “Ecosystems are incredibly resilient but their recovery will take years.

“Every action that landholders can take to help with this recovery is important, and is a vital part of our ongoing stewardship of natural areas.”

About 46 properties with conservation covenants (which protect a property forever, even after it changes hands) have been impacted by fires in East Gippsland and north east Victoria.

Trust for Nature will work with the landholders as they restore habitat over the following months and years.

It is a not-for-profit organisation that relies on the generosity of supporters to help protect Victoria’s biodiversity. Trust for Nature has set up a Bushfire Habitat Recovery Fund to help landholders who have conservation covenants impacted by fires.

Main photo: Max James on his Wangarabell property which has a conservation covenant

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