newsletter no.56 landcare group...4 n&dlg newsletter no. 56. autumn 2019 4. lord howe stick...

Newham & DistrictLandcare Group

AUTUMN 2019Newsletter No.56

Address – PO Box 314, WOODEND, 3442

Working towards ahealthier environmentProduction of this newsletter is funded through

Melbourne Water’s Community Grants Scheme

Nest boxes for wildlife

DIARY OF EVENTS

President: – Howard Stirling; 0432 809 314. Vice President: Vacant. Treasurer: Hilary Roberts.Committee members: Doug Dalgleish, Karl Kny, Penny Roberts, Jim Sansom.Please consider nominating for the committee as there are spaces vacant.Secretary, Website: Helen Scott; 0412 582 526.New members, Propagating Group, general queries: Penny Roberts; 0418 396 837.Roadsides: Sue Massie; 5427 0065.Animal pest Coordinator: Sue Barker; 5427 0805.Flora, library, small tools, grants: Penny Roberts; 5427 0795. Spray trailer: Currently held by the Roberts family. Contact Penny on 0418396837.

Website: https://newhamlandcare.info

The committee meets on the first Monday of the month (February to December) between7.30 – 9pm in Newham. All members are welcome to attend the Committee meetings to become moreinvolved or raise specific matters. Please advise a committee member if you wish to attend. Meetings startand finish on time... and we enjoy them!

Group contacts

MAYSunday 19

Hands-on session at Hanging Rock ReserveWestern end of the creek, southern side. Turn left immediately inside the gate, park near the tennis club

and head to western end of the creek.

9.30am – 12.30pm followed by a BBQ lunch. BYO gloves.

Revisit areas planted several years ago, now protected by fencing to exclude wallabies and discouragekangaroos, to add more ground layer plants and deal with any weeds that have appeared.

JULYFriday 12

Exploring what changes can unfold when predators are excluded from our ecosystemsNewham Hall: 7 for 7.30pm start.

Mark Bachmann, principal ecologist and manager of Nature Glenelg Trust returns, as requested by thosepresent at his previous talk.

Overview: A semi-regular small mammal monitoring program has been conducted by Mark Bachmann over the past 18 years in LowerGlenelg River Conservation Park. Of note, this small South Australian reserve has been under the proximal influence of Glenelg Ark forthe past 12 years, a comprehensive fox baiting program operating in Lower Glenelg National Park, the adjacent reserve in westernVictoria. Not only do the cliffs of the Glenelg River form a significant geographic barrier capable of slowing fox re-invasion to this site,enhancing the effectiveness of the baiting program, but this is also the only location under the direct influence of Glenelg Ark where along-term baseline dataset exists prior to the baiting program commencing. However, the results have been anything but predictable,with a series of unforeseen impacts on the small mammal community now being observed. These results will be shared and put in thecontext of a wider discussion about changes that have been or are being observed elsewhere in south-eastern Australia and Tasmaniawhen predators have gone missing. Mark will also highlight the changes that have occurred to the native mammal community in theNewham area.

AUGUSTSunday 4

Make your own nesting box workshopNewham Hall: Time tba. Cost: $20 to NDLG members ($70 non-members) includes lunch.

In this 4 hour workshop you will learn about the value of nesting boxes and construct and paint a box totake home with you. BYO drill with Phillips-head screwdriver and paint brush.

2N&DLG Newsletter No. 56. Autumn 2019

Women in ConservationTrust for Nature and Bush Heritage Australia hold an annualCelebrating Women in Conservation Breakfast. This year,courtesy of, and thanks to, Port Phillip and WesternportCatchment Management Authority, Penny Roberts, Alice Airdand Helen Scott arose very early to attend the 8th breakfaston 28th February. We joined commuters at Riddells Creekstation to arrive by 7am at Zinc in Federation Square inMelbourne. Before and after breakfast and the speakers wewere able to check out the guest list and head between the46 tables to catch up with people we knew, and networknew contacts.

The inspiring guest speaker was Dr Jenny Gray, ChiefExecutive Officer of Zoos Victoria https://www.zoo.org.au/

She has helped transform Zoos Victoria into a Zoo BasedConservation Organisation in a financially sustainablemanner. In 2016 Jenny completed her PhD on “An EthicalDefense of Modern Zoos” which has been turned into abook called Zoo Ethics. She was appointed President of World Association of Zoos and Aquariums in2017. She is committed to improving standards and regulations of zoos and aquariums around theworld.

Jenny told us about how zoo-based conservation programs are seeing species back in the wild. In 2009the Board made the commitment that “No Victorian terrestrial vertebrate species will become extincton our watch” – a big one! You can watch her talk – “Our journey – a decade in conservation” athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8JvRGAdfesor at https://www.bushheritage.org.au/news/videos/jenny-gray-at-the-wicb

Jenny described the Zoo’s two main programs in the past decade of converting to a zoo-basedconservation organisation.

A. A decade of fighting extinctionThe Zoo’s journey started in 2009 thinking about what zoos could be in future, when a crisis happenedinvolving a critically endangered bat on Christmas Island (which had been documented by LindyLumsden, familiar to many NDLG members from her sessions with us in 2010). The team put togetherto save the bat was 6 months too late – Jenny played a very poignant recording on 26/8/2009 of the lastbat on the last night. An extinction.

The Zoo identified 2 key skills – zoos can work with critically endangered animals, they already holdthem; and they can talk to people – there are 2.5 million people through the gates each year.

The Zoo currently holds and works with 16 out of 21 endangered species, Jenny spoke about 5.

1. Eastern Barred Bandicoot is the success story, working with a number of partners. There are 5populations in the wild (ie not behind fences), up from 2; 780-1000 back in the wild. Jenny spoke ofmany tales in the campaign eg Mt Rothwell, Philip Island, gene widening trials, use of guardian dogs.

2. Helmeted Honeyeater – these birds have gone from 50 to over 200. More habitat is the secret tosuccess eg Haning Farm, tree programs.

3. Orange-bellied Parrot – we are losing the battle, down to 50 in the wild, have boosted breedingprograms for survival in captivity. One program is assisted migration (boxes/roosts) as they migratefrom Tasmania.



4. Lord Howe Stick Insect – 100 adults in care, 15,000 eggs waiting for island to be rat free. Volunteertourism is one tool.

5. Baw Baw Frog – this population has crashed in the last 10 years, leaving under 1000 in the wild.Captive population is up, but habitat (ie water) is disappearing; forestry and logging drains the swampyground needed. “Little Brown Things” project has State government support.

B. Engaging with people to instil love and aweThere is emerging social science around audience engagement and behaviour change – the Zoo’s 14published research papers are all documented. Some examples:

• Proof of emotional and physical reactions to engagement with animals, evaluation of keeper talkscompared with exit signs, for example about phone recycling – need both. Shows are more influentialthan an exhibit alone e.g. seals and plastic.• Wipe for Wildlife and Crap Man campaigns convinced in one year 35,000 households to switch totoilet paper made from recycled paper. • Can we anthropomorphise experience? – yes, kids engage with cartoon characters, and it canchange behaviour eg buying more expensive postcards.• Palm Oil campaign become a citizens’ social movement, 95% of Australians want mandatorylabelling of palm oil on foodstuffs. • When do we become a nag? Never – could not reach a threshold (though can only ask once formoney!) Saturated campaign coverage improved the Werribee Zoo experience.• Corroboree frog campaign – making soft toys and statuesmade a huge increase in recognition of a small endangeredspecies.• Zoo visitors are high in universalism and benevolence, thesame as people involved in the conservation movement. • Plastic attachments from balloons are the most common itemchoking shearwater chicks on Lord Howe Island, so the Zoostarted a campaign “Don’t release balloons outdoors” – blow bubbles instead of releasing balloons,and a new career of bubbleologist was born!

The Zoo is rolling the learning and programs out all over the world, in response to many enquiries. Theirmost recent one is cats and wildlife. 1.3 million actions have arisen from campaigns.

Three lessons Jenny Gray says she has learned– • fighting extinction is super fun; • it is a long game, taking commitment and supporters, science and data make it possible; • it needs teamwork – everyone!

Other speakers were Heather Campbell, CEO of Bush Heritage, and Victoria Marles, CEO of Trust forNature.

Trust for Nature protects native plants and wildlife for future generations of Victorians by conservinghabitat on private land. Working with landowners and others, it has secured 100,000 hectares. Thisincludes land protected forever by more than 1,400 voluntary conservation covenants and 42 Trust forNature reserves, including the iconic Neds Corner Station near Mildura.https://www.trustfornature.org.au

Bush Heritage is an independent not-for-profit that buys and manages land, and also partners withAboriginal people, to conserve our magnificent landscapes and our irreplaceable native species forever.Together with partners it protects 8.86 million hectares.https://www.bushheritage.org.au/

Helen Scott.


Macedon Ranges Soils Workshop21 March 2019

A full quota of some 35 people attended the Soils Workshop sponsored by the Shire held at the Olive Farm inPickerings Lane North of Kyneton. Christian Bannan (“South East Soil and Water”) and Melissa Cann were ourexpert presenters. Each participant was asked to bring along a bucket of their own soil for testing. A pit especiallydug by an excavator for the occasion enabled a clear understanding of soil horizons from carbon rich top soildown almost to the parent rock material at the bottom.

The Workshop was very informative with a good balance of basic theory and practical hints to apply at home.

The following points I found most useful:1 It is essential to maintain cover on your soil at all times. This could be mulch, the desired crop, crop

residue or even, to a point, weeds. It is important to avoid sun baking directly onto bare soil.2 A dispersible soil type in the top layer will tend to form an impervious barrier against deeper water

infiltration. Incorporation of organic matter (eg compost) in the upper layers will help to counteract this. Deep rooted species will also help.

3 Till as little as possible. Soil microbes, especially millions of bacteria and fungi are essential mediators of plant nutrients and excessive tilling will disrupt the important micro eco-system.

4 ‘Set grazing’ (letting stock have free range to feed in a large paddock) is old technology and according to Christian should be ‘outlawed’! ‘Cell grazing’ (stock confined to a small area or strip by means of an electric fence for a fairly short period of time – perhaps about 3 days) is so much more efficient in terms of resource use and maintaining pasture quality. Some time was spent explaining why cell grazing is so much better. Though not mentioned in the Workshop the recent book by Charles Massy – Call of the Reed Warbler, explores this idea further.

5 Australian agriculture generally is poorly managed. New Zealand is a long way ahead in managing what is really a national resource. For example in NZ you must have a licence to farm and this implies a measure of education and understanding about the enterprise. Soil amendments must be approved by the relevant authorities so that soil health is maintained and not spoiled by indiscriminate and ill-advised use of manufactured fertilisers etc. “The farm is yours but the environment isn’t”.

Jim Sansom.

Clean Up Australia Day 3 March 2019Newham and District Landcare Group spentthe morning cleaning up the roadsides ofNewham.

Particular thanks to the following intrepid localresidents who help to keep the area clean.

Louise Quinn, Sue Massie, Fran Spain, Neil McMaster, Penny Roberts, Hilary Roberts andJane Trikojus. Roadsides cleaned were Bryces,Dons, Jim, Coach, Colwells and South Rock.

Most of rubbish collected – approximately 14 bagsplus tyres – thrown from vehicle windows.

COME ON PEOPLE WE CAN DOBETTER!Nick Massie.


Scientists need your help spotting dead treesHave you seen dead or dying trees in your area? No doubt with the current hot and dry conditions, many ofus have seen trees under severe moisture and heat stress. They are dying on my roadside and in the forestbehind, on Mt Macedon.

A collective of concerned scientists have launched a new citizen science project, The Dead Tree Detective,which aims to record where and when trees have died in Australia. Unfortunately, the current drought acrossmany regions of Australia has been so severe that some native trees have died or are under severe stress. It isimportant to document these occurrences, which will assist scientists in understanding and predicting how nativeforests and woodlands are vulnerable to climate extremes.

This project will allow people Australia-wide to report observations of tree death. In the past, there have beenmany occurrences of large-scale tree death that were initially identified by concerned members of the publicsuch as farmers, bushwalkers, bird watchers or landholders. Collecting these observations is an important wayto monitor the health of trees and ecosystems.

Climate extremes have pushed some of our local iconic native trees to their limits of survival, so it is essentialto document which species are surviving better than others under these conditions. This project allows you toupload photos of your trees and answer a few questions to help identify the possible causes. You need asmartphone with camera and GPS. You will find some information about each of these causes in the ‘Resources’section. You can even revisit the locations in following months to document whether trees recover or not. Tosee what other records there are in your area, go to the ‘Data’ section. See the ‘Blog’ for details of any newmajor tree death events that we have become aware of.

Please go to Dead Tree Detective (or https://biocollect.ala.org.au/acsa/project/index/77285a13-e231-49e8-b212-60c66c74bac to upload photos regarding this project and to read the full project description, which ishosted on the Atlas of Living Australia.

Alternatively you can email [email protected] and they will email back a survey form.

Helen Scott.

The Dead Tree Detective–


Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total

2008 25.5 12.5 30.5 18.0 35.0 103.0 53.5 50.5 14.0 6.0 60.5 84.0 493.0

2009 0 7.0 46.5 28.0 52.0 48.5 50.5 101.0 82.5 31.0 86.0 87.0 620.0

2010 23.5 56.0 85.0 47.5 25.0 93.0 85.0 162.5 63.0 163.9 178.4 92.0 1074.8

2011 243.4 142.4 21.6 65.6 64.5 58.3 82.2 50.2 102.6 66.6 77.4 96.2 1071.0

2012 47.6 141.8 77.6 30.6 43.8 115.0 104.4 90.4 42.6 21.4 21.0 25.2 761.4

2013 3.6 122.4 43.2 15.4 85.0 71.0 120.2 116.4 90.2 68.0 41.4 39.6 816.4

2014 18.2 11.2 43.6 70.2 50.6 105.6 33.8 15.6 49.8 34.8 14.6 21.0 469.0

2015 55.2 46.4 16.2 35.8 66.4 32.0 88.6 37.4 39.4 22.4 42.8 34.2 516.8

2016 37.6 5.2 38.8 41.4 106.6 105.6 170.0 92.2 186.0 97.4 54.2 94.6 1029.6

2017 27.0 21.0 28.2 173.2 35.6 7.0 59.6 110.0 55.0 47.0 78.0 70.6 712.2

2018 76.8 8.2 35.4 29.4 117.00 86.8 74.8 78.4 17.4 64.8 50.4 75.0 714.4

2019 10.2 15.4 11.00 4.6 41.2

Newham rainfall reportNick Massie

Rainfall this calendar year to end of April totals 41.2 mm. This is the lowest start to the year since I beganrecording rainfall in 2008, a drought year.The April monthly total is 4.6 mm. I am sure everyone is aware of this disastrous start as we see plants,trees, etc in distress.The table below lists the monthly totals since 2008.

The cumulative monthly totals are below.

Did you Know?The phrase raining cats and dogs originated in seventeenth-century

England. During heavy rainstorms, many homeless animals would drown and floatdown the streets, giving the appearance that it had actually rained cats

and dogs.


Habitat for WildlifeOn Sunday 24 March 15 members gathered at the Moore’s property to hear naturalist and local fauna expertMiles Geldard talk to us about nest boxes for wildlife, and to give us some tools to assess and improve propertiesfor their habitat value to wildlife.

In his next box presentation Miles stressed the importance of hollows in trees – for birds and bats, and on theground for animals such as Quolls, Antechinus, Tuan (Phascogales), Sugar Gliders. In the box Ironbark forests ofCentral Victoria, 61% of mammals and 15% of birds require tree hollows for nesting or sheltering. 85% of theforest is gone and of the 15% remaining, only 1-2% is quality old growth or remnant. In the Newham area anumber of species currently present are at risk of local extinction because off their dependence on hollows –Brush-tailed Phascogale, Barking Owl, Powerful Owl, Greater Glider. In addition to hollows these animals needquality bush to survive. Habitat ‘values’ present in ‘quality’ bush are listed later in this article.

Miles illustrated how trees have disappeared with afascinating 1877 photo (right) of the train station atWoodend, with timber stacked everywhere – cut forfuel to supply the new steam railway and to servicebuilding in the goldfields region.

An interesting aside – Tuan/phascogales are athreatened species, unlike Sugar Gliders. As the malesonly live for 11 months, they are sometimes founddead under a tree (identified by the toothbrush tail!)Miles suggested collecting a dead specimen, anddouble bagging it to freeze for later collection byDELWP for research.

Formation of hollows needs an old tree (think 70 years plus!). The tree then needs a scar through the bark intothe heartwood to allow termites to enter. Scars can be caused by fire, lightning, a snapped branch or birds likecockatoos. In wetter forests fungi create hollows. In our climate, it is termites. Much as we don’t want termitesin our houses, they create houses for native fauna – by eating out the heartwood to make hollows.

Roadsides are critically important in our area as corridors ofremnant vegetation (and NDLG has a track record of trying toimprove roadside management practices as can be seen in ournewsletters!) They are good places for spotlighting to sight wildlifeas there are often large old trees with hollows.

Miles talked about different designs of nest boxes for differentanimal needs, how they must be screwed for strength, and howto position them to best effect: on the coolest side of a tree

(southeast) although sugar gliders like solar warmth in winter on the northeast; 3 metres from the ground toavoid foxes and vandals; on trees without hollows, with a width of 30cm or more.

Make your own nesting box – Workshop on Sunday, 4 August –save the date.How to tell what is using your nest box? Sugar Gliders line theirs with fresh Eucalypt leaves and keep them clean ofdroppings, whilst Tuans create with ‘mixed media’ – bark, litter, feathers,leaves – and leave their droppings inside. Managing a box is important. Bees are an issue and a big threat to hollow-dependent animal species; their wax must be removed. European honey


bees “mine” the bush, their hives divide and spread by swarming, unlike native bees. Miles has found thatsingeing the wood under the lid until black stops the bees using a box. Other threats include Indian Myna birdsand cats; what a shame the Council cat curfew does not come into effect until mid-2020!In his second presentation – on Property Assessment Tools, Miles showed some useful books and online tools.Some examples follow.Books:Wildlife of the Box Ironbark Forests; various field guides to Eucalypts, Flora Guide of Melbourne, Tracks and Scats.Some are in the Landcare Library, see the list on the website at https://newhamlandcare.info/library/ Online tools: • Google maps with satellite overlay; • NearMaps; Visualising Victoria’s Biodiversity (VBB) www.vvb.org.au/ where you can discover and share

spatial information, print species lists. • NatureKit, Victoria’s biodiversity web mapping and reporting tool at

www.environment.vic.gov.au/biodiversity/naturekit; • Plant lists for revegetation eg https://newhamlandcare.info/localplants/; EVC Lists (Ecological Vegetation

Class e.g. EVC Benchmarks for Central Victoria Uplands Region – via https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/biodiversity/bioregions-and-evc-benchmarks;

• National Library of Australia’s TROVE https://trove.nla.gov.au/ – a real treasure that brings together content from libraries, museums, archives, repositories and other research and collecting organisations big and small, (was useful for the research done for the 2017 book Hanging Rock – a history).

Another assessment tool is simply studying your local neighbourhood to note habitat values present that wouldadd value to those on your own property – drive, walk, talk, and note the connectivity or fragmentation ofsurrounding areas; the conservation/revegetation efforts being made (e.g. Landcare, Biolinks, Land for Wildlife,Trust for Nature); significant roadside vegetation signs; refuges such as steams, gullies, cliffs, old growth, dams(add logs for fish and frogs).Habitat ‘values’ to retain / add to your property – these determine the quality of your place as habitat for wildlife.• patch size • vegetation cover – multiple layers (ground, mid-level, canopy) with diversity of species• highly complex ground layer including mosses, fungi, grasses, leaf litter,• leaf litter – a MASS of food resources, a

“supermarket for insectivorous animals”, it drives the woodland ecosystems

• features – dams, streams, gullies• Large Old Trees • weediness – some weeds may have a function but

many outcompete the native plants and a monoculture results (think Gorse, Broom Blackberry)

• fallen logs which provide structure, a “supermarket for Phascogales” which feed on insects and invertebrates; also those in dams and streams.

• rocky areas • nest boxes and other artificial habitats.Following the presentations and lunch provided by Penny,we took a walk around Simone and David Moore’s lovelyproperty where they have planted 11,000 trees andshrubs. Miles and helpers put up 10 nest boxes on mostlyMessmates (Eucalyptus obliqua) in suitable locations. We then moved on to the Sutherland property nearby (photo right) and put up 9 more boxes.

Helen Scott and Penny Roberts.


Melissa and her farmer.

Autumn plantingMany of us have already had 40mm rain – not enough to thoroughly rewet our parched soils butenough, along with the cooler weather, to start planting.

The soil is still warm, so plants have a chance to establish before the cold slows them down and thisgives them their best chance to get their roots down before the next summer hits us.

Tubestock is again available to NDLG members at a price of 50c – these are indigenous natives, manyspecies grown locally and a mix of trees, shrub and ground layer species. This year for the first time wealso have some aquatics and semi-aquatics available. The number of species available is being expandedby purchase of some stock from Western plains flora and these will be subsidized by Landcare and soldat the same 50c price to members.

Contact Penny at [email protected] or on 0418396837 to discuss your needs.

Do check out our new website. Helen is working on the Photo Gallery, you might spot yourself!Our area has some of the most beautiful flora, birds and wildlife in Australia – consider sendingher your photos to showcase here, [email protected] if you have a story, helpful hint or photo you would like to share with members in thenewsletter, please drop Helen or Penny a line. Alice Aird for example has written an article onher experiences with the European Wasp which will be published in the next issue.

This Farm Needs a Farmer (TFNAF)Melissa Connors, 2018 winner of the VictorianAgri-futures Rural Womans Award, attended arecent NDLG committee meeting.

‘Like many others’, she said, ‘we moved to arural area with no experience or no knowledgeof the issues that we would experience as wesought to care for the land. TFNAF allowspeople to seek advice and assistance ofexperienced farmers’.

By connecting tree-changers interested in aparticular agricultural activity (or general naturalresource management) with experiencedfarmers willing to provide advice or lend ahand, knowledge is retained in the communityand old farmers are valued and perhaps givennew meaning in life.

https://www.thisfarmneedsafarmer.com.au


“Never doubt that a single property managed bythoughtful, committed owners can change the landscape;indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”(apologies to Margaret Mead for this mis-quote)

Small actions do work – what we do at a local scale does have an impact for the species and ecosystems thatare there and hopefully coming back. It mightn’t be spectacular but it IS making a difference.

Each property is part of a landscape which is part of a catchment.

At Newham, we have talked a lot about the importance of considering the broader landscape and our goal ofdeveloping ‘functional’ connectivity between the Cobaw forest and Macedon Regional Park. Functionalconnectivity refers to the extent to which an individual can move through the landscape and so we areprogressively building stepping stones and linking corridors of native vegetation, providing habitat along whichfauna can travel more safely when they need to move across the landscape.

Waterways (even if seasonal or only a ‘drainage line’) have a particular importance as longitudinal links.

For aquatic animals the importance is obvious – for other fauna perhaps not so much so.

Landscape connectivity: science and practice: Part 2. What does it actually mean? The information below is based on a presentation given in September 2018 by Dr Jim Radford.

Part 1, in newsletter issue 54 talked about the many benefits of native vegetation – habitat for wildlife, increasedconnectivity, aesthetic/spiritual, well-being and personal health, ecosystem services, increased property valueand increased agricultural productivity.

Landscape connectivity is the degree to which the landscape allows or impedes movement of individualanimals between patches of ‘resources’.

It is important to understand that this is species specific.

The same landscape may provide high connectivity for some organisms (e.g. highly mobile flying species – birds,bats) but low connectivity for others species (e.g. reptiles, insects, koalas etc)

Landscape connectivity may be consideredin terms of structure and function.

Structural connectivity refers to the spatial;arrangement of habitats or habitat patches ina landscape mosaic and variables to considerare:

– continuity of suitable habitat– extent and distance of gaps between

suitable habitat.– presence of alternative

pathways/networks– composition of the ‘matrix’ and

‘permeability’ of patch boundaries

Functional connectivity refers to the extent to which an individual can move through the landscape.

Principles of landscape restoration1. Amount of habitat is king!2. Increase the areal extent of native vegetation with an appropriate species mix and sufficient structural

complexity that it provides habitat for a range of flora and fauna.


3. Emphasize repair of ecosystem processes. This may involve revegetation or other management actions such as strategic grazing, soil conservation, fire management, and control of aggressive/invasive species.

4. Maintain keystone habitat features such as paddock trees, fallen logs, deep pools in streams and rocks.

Protect – improve – enhance – reconstruct

Protect: maintain existing native vegetation through fencing or sympathetic management.Improve: by controlling or removing threatening processes (e.g. weeds, feral animals, firewood collection,inappropriate fire regimes).Enhance: supplement and enlarge existing patches of native vegetation through revegetation of habitat gaps orbuffers (particularly around sensitive riparian zones).Reconstruct: create new patches of native vegetation through replanting or manipulation of physicalprocesses to promote natural regeneration.

Build spatial variation (patchiness) into restoration plans:– seek variety in patch type, shape and size (although larger patches are preferred), patch boundaries and

landscape position.Seek to simulate or enhance natural processes:

– be faithful to the original ecological vegetation classes and functional vegetation types (e.g. nectar, seed and fruit producing plants.

Promote continuity of vegetation along environmental gradients.Reduce the ‘hostility’ of the matrix:

– ‘soften’ boundaries between landscape elements, maintain habitat elements in the matrix (e.g. paddock trees, rocks, fallen logs), reduce the intensity of land-use and incorporate refuge areas in high land-use intensity zones.

Use waterways as the backbone for restoration.

Penny Roberts.

Dr Jim Radford’s presentation given in September 2018.


Newham Primary School was fortunate to be able to haveSam Harrison from ‘Lab-Coat Learning’ come to presenta ‘Mini-Beasts’ workshop on the 5th of March. Thesession focussed the needs of various living things, andadaptations that species have made in order to survive intheir environments. Sam brought a butterfly tent filledwith monarch butterflies and their brightly colouredcaterpillar form, a range of fresh-water invertebrates,spiny leaf insects and even an unusually large blue yabby!The students loved being able to get up close andpersonal with the various species and were highlyengrossed (and sometimes just grossed-out!) with each ofthe activities.

Newham PS has a significantsustainability focus, so being introducedto the relationship between theenvironment and the many creaturesthat share it in such an engaging way wasinvaluable! Hopefully it will act asanother solid step in helping the nextgeneration to understand what a hugeresponsibility we have in taking care ofour environment.

Thank you to Landcare for helping us tobring this experience to our students!

Russel DyerScience and Physical Education Teacher.

Newham Primary

School ‘Mini-Beasts’ Incursion


In the many years of my active wildlife carer’s life I encountered lots of fabulous people that helped uslooking after injured and orphaned wildlife in various ways: fundraisers in the local Newham community,school children and their grandparents sewing pouches, sympathetic local reporters, special deals athardware stores and sawmills – just to name a few. And occasionally we also got help from some of themost unlikely sources in the broader community.

Lee Lou, a little Eastern Grey joey came into ourcare after her mum was killed in a car accident.She was already with us for about a week beforeI noticed that her left leg did not unfold properlyand the heel was sideways. I took her to the vetand she took x-rays as we first suspecteddislocation or a break. And we found out that thegrowth plate at the heel was broken or displacedin the car accident her mum was involved in.

This injury obviously resulted in her tendon beingsomewhat tighter on one side and this unbalancedpull made it impossible for her to stretch that leg.And as Lee Lou was still a rather small pouch baby and was mostly tightly folded up in her pouch andcouldn’t stand yet we were unable to predict if she was ever able to hop. She only freely stretched oneleg, but when I “unfolded” the demented foot she quite happily stretched both feet.

As Lee Lou was not in any pain whatsoever the vet opted for doing nothing. As the bones were notproperly calcified yet, nothing would really work anyway. We discussed (and discarded) every option: pins– they would shatter that little heel. Plaster – well there is nothing broken. Bandage – what? We onlyhoped that physio/exercise would stop the tendon from freezing up. And once she unfolded that foot shehad no problem – except that it liked to fold back in a corkscrew motion.

Various enquiries gave me not much hope. I was told that injuries like this resulted in joeys unable to unfoldtheir legs once out of the pouch. They would stand on their heels and eventually had to be euthanised.Well… definitely not an option at this time !!

So I took the little girl to a prosthetic specialist in Melbourne. After I hadexplained the problem we were booked in for a lengthy appointmentand Lee Lou was fitted a handcrafted padded splint which kept her footat a 45 degree angle. This splint was removable so I could give her physioand exercise after every feed. At the second equally lengthy appointmentthey showed me how to adjust the splint to cater for her growing leg.

After about 6 weeks the leg had improved drastically. The heel was stillsideways but didn’t freeze up and “corkscrew” inwards anymore. And fora few more weeks after having outgrown the splint I only bandaged thefoot overnight.

And payment? All they wanted was a family portrait of Lee Lou witheveryone from the clinic beaming happily.

newsletter no.56 landcare group...4 n&dlg newsletter no. 56. autumn 2019 4. lord howe stick...

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