Environment Matters Autumn/Winter 2024

A business in Brassall showcases how nature regeneration can happen anywhere.

Conservation and industry coexisting

Richard and Judy run A Wood Shed from the six hectare industrial property on Pine Mountain Road. In 2020 they joined the Land for Wildlife program, their first foray into conservation. “The only land management we had was a tractor and slasher to keep control. Then we thought – ‘we can do better than this’,” Richard said. “Once we started, we thought we could make something quite nice out of this, and it became more of a passion than maintenance.” Now, about 1.5 hectares is dedicated to land restoration, with a particular focus on the section that connects to Mihi Creek. Richard tells how the weed mass was so dense that a digger had to be used to crash through the lantana

and glycine vine and scoop up giant bucketfuls of asparagus fern. Their vision was no small task – turning the stream into a healthy, functional waterway, and the pond into a refuge for frogs and birds; connecting native vegetation to nearby Mihi Creek; managing weeds to allow assisted natural regeneration; and doing proactive fire management. In three years they have installed more than 1,000 plants, attended ecological workshops, installed nestboxes for microbats, small parrots and phascogales, have used cane toad traps, done countless hours of weed management including steam treatment, and more. Working with council officers through the Land for Wildlife program also led to a connection with local native plant

grower Richard Jonker, who has since added his expertise to the restoration and has set up a small nursery ‘Saltarius’ on site. Richard and Judy have noticed native animals returning to the landscape such as marsh frogs, Eastern brown snakes, white-faced herons, dollarbirds, firetailed gudgeon and yabbies. There is still much work to do, such as establishing the vegetation around the creek and ponds to slow stormwater run-off to prevent erosion and filter nutrients. But Richard admits a personal goal is also to coax the local wrens and finches back into the property by planting more shrubs and habitat where they feel safe. “If we get the small birds I will feel like we have succeeded,” he said.

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