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Specialising in natural resource and social planning; community consultation and facilitation; values mapping and consensus building, mediation and conflict resolution; policy development; program and organisational diagnosis and development.
Grassy White Box Woodlands |
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project outline |
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Project Update: Spring 1999Financial incentives for protectionThe Taking Action Now! Project aims to provide support and incentives to landholders wanting to protect remnant Grassy White Box Woodlands (GWB).A small amount of funds is available to provide support in 1999-2000. The funds can be used to assist with physical works such as fencing and weed control, and/or to enable the development and implementation of a management strategy for a remnant. The Taking Action Now! Project is designed to support landholders who are involved in creative strategies to protect their GWB remnants, especially those which involve partnerships with other stakeholder groups. Application is open to individual landholders, Landcare and other community groups, Local Governments and Rural Land Protection Boards. Applications will be individually and confidentially assessed. For further information and to obtain a copy of the application form, please contact Heather Pearce from Community Solutions on (02) 9818 2684. Heather will also put you in contact with a local member of the project team who will be able to provide further information.
20 September Closing date for applications September-October Site visits and assessments 25 November Project Management Group approves grants Early December Successful and non-successful applicants are notified January 2000 Work commences on funded projects
According to ìPlants in You Pantsî White box, Eucalyptus albens have persistent bark over the whole trunk, and rounded juvenile leaves that are grey blue green. Grey Box, Eucalyptus moluccana sheds its bark from half way up the trunk has greener leaves and smaller fruits. Another distinction that needs drawing is the one between Grassy White Box Woodlands and Shrubby White Box Woodlands. Shrubby White Box Woodlands are distinguishable not only by their shrubby understorey but also because they usually occur on rough hilly country. SWBW are relatively common on the NW Slopes of NSW. I would like to reassure you that if in fact you do have a GWB, then I know you value it and are managing it well or it wouldnít be there. This also means you would like it to survive for many generations to come. Is it really healthy? Can I assess its health for you, or give you the tools to do so? Would you be willing to share your management strategies with me, so together we can educate the scientists that grazing and conservation can coexist with the appropriate management. Any communications will be handled with the strictest confidence!!!!!! Information about the Native Vegetation Conservation Act can be obtained from your local DLWC office.The NSW Farmers' Association has provided the answers to many questions about the Native Vegetation Conservation Act on its Home Page www.nswfarmers.org.au. Or contact Sue Salvin on 02 9251 1700 email: salvins@nswfarmers.com.au
The project has been enthusiastically embraced by interest groups and departmental persons. Those groups and departmental persons have been working towards similar goals to conserve White Box woodland, and now the Grassy White Box project will unite their efforts. Members of local landcare and naturalist groups are keen to take advantage of the offer of field excursions to further their knowledge of the fauna associated with White Box Woodland. Three large White Box remnants and a small cemetery are presently being assessed for their conservation values and discussions on the future management of those are taking place with the owners.
I am a wool grower from Cumnock, on the central western slopes, and have lived in the district all my life. I have, for a long time, been concerned about tree decline and loss of biodiversity. In the spring of 1994, I fenced off an area of about 8 ha of white box woodlands. The area is fairly rough country with a lot of trees and so had never had any pasture improvements or fertilizer applied. It had, however, often been heavily grazed by sheep. The first thing that happened was the noticeable buildup in plant material on the ground. The area has become very soft to walk on and the soil structure is improving with the absence of cloven hoofed animals compacting the surface. The build up in organic matter on the soil surface has discouraged the few exotic weeds that were present. Regeneration of species in the remnant began with hop bush (Dodonaea viscosa) and hickory wattle (Acacia implexa), with white box (Eucalyptus albens) seedlings appeared after 2-3 years.
Koala - Phascolarctos cinereus. Photo by Phil Spark
Interesting and relevant research will be carried out in White Box and River Red Gum woodlands over the next twelve months by an ANU honours student, Scott Channing. He will be surveying the presence of marsupials, bats and nocturnal birds throughout thirty sites of each woodland type. The potential study area stretches from Forbes through to Albury. I am currently supplying information on possible study sites, and look forward to being involved in the research, and especially the results of this work. The area around Young has had some previous involvement with White Box awareness and conservation through the work of Suzanne Prober and Kevin Thiele, and this may well lead to further involvement with this project, with reports of many excellent White Box remnants on private land, roadsides and public lands such as Rural Lands Protection Board Reserves. A roadside vegetation survey (with emphasis on Superb Parrot habitat) will be carried out for the Young Shire Council which may also support identification of White Box woodlands. A visit to that area is planned for the near future. A significant achievement has been made by NPWS's Erica Higginson in her work as Conservation Management Network Project Officer with the agreement of Coolamon Shire Council to establish a Voluntary Conservation Agreement for the Marrar Cemetery, which is a relatively intact example of Grassy White Box Woodland. Its importance is heightened by the lack of any ëgoodí portions of remnant native vegetation on private land due to the favoured soils and high crop productivity of the area. A floristic survey of the cemetery will be carried out in late October. Contacts with various vegetation/conservation workers have been made throughout the southern region with good reception from old aquaintances and new. Corowa and Holbrook areas may also yield some promising White Box woodland sites over the next few weeks with some new contacts made in that region.
Phil Spark Geoff Tonkin & Mollie Whitehorn Karen Walker
Heather Pearce
The Reference Group then discussed in some detail the assessment process for the grants that will be distributed as part of our project. One of the decisions made was to approach the Natural Heritage Trust about using some of the funding to establish a monitoring component for the project, so that we can more accurately measure its successes. It is important that we can demonstrate and measure our achievements. Criteria for grant allocation were decided upon, and the management group "signed off" on the advertisement and the information for potential applicants. Representatives from the NSW Farmers' Association, the WorldWide Fund for Nature, Charles Sturt University and Farming for the Future will make up the Assessment Panel for grant applications, with input and coordination from Community Solutions. The next meeting of the two groups will be on 24-25 November, at which time final decisions will be made on grant allocations. All of the RLOs will also be attending those meetings to brief project partners and other contributors about their work. That meeting will be held in Bathurst. |
CONTENTS:Financial incentives for protection Timeline for Grants application process Remnant Vegetation - 5 years on Research and action in the south |
No wonder everyone's confused! White box are grey and Grey Box are green. Who thought up these common names anyway? The Native Vegetation Conservation Act, Conservation Agreements, Property Agreements, and Management Contracts what does it all mean?
With some help, we compiled a native species list that has grown steadily over the five years until now it includes over 40 species. We were delighted this autumn to find some kangaroo grass (Themeda australis) and Barbwire grass (Cymbopogon refractus) on one of the steeper rocky areas. Other species to appear that were not previously there include Kurrajong (Brachychiton populneus), northern silver wattle (Acacia leucoclada) and western silver wattle (A. decora). We presume that the seeds from these have been brought in by birds.The site has given us many hours of pleasure as we constantly roam around it on the lookout for new flora and fauna species. The amount of organic material on the ground seems to have stabilised and we constantly wonder, ëIs this what it looked like for the thousands of years prior to 1788?