Doug and Chris Dunster from Upotipotpon have benefited from their long involvement with Landcare and the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (CMA).
Doug and Chris Dunster from Upotipotpon have benefited from their long involvement with Landcare and the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (CMA).
Their 364ha or 900 acre grazing property, Quendale, is a showcase for a revegetation program that will benefit the familys’ farming enterprise and the environment. They have recently received a grant of $29,000 for further fencing and revegetation work.
Although the Dunsters have been involved with the Heartlands program for the past 3 years, Doug maintains that land management projects have been carried out on the property for at least 40 years.
A mixture of revegetation projects have been undertaken at Quendale including some farm forestry with red and black ironbark, and re-establishment of around 5,500 trees indigenous to the area.
Work has also been undertaken by the CMA waterways team to stabilise an eroding gully that crosses four properties before it reaches the BrokenRiver. This project is an integrated effort, including all adjoining landowners affected by erosion from the stream.
Doug said there was no place to cross the gulley when it flooded, and that with each year it was getting wider due to erosion.
“The CMA has done a fantastic job to re-stabilise the banks with rock structures and have replaced the topsoil so we will be able to sow deep rooted grasses there,” Doug added. “Incredibly, the trees that were planted last year to help stabilised the soil have done remarkably well even though it has been so dry. We have restored about 2.5ha of unusable land along that gulley.”
Quendale can also boast a remarkable result from fencing works to support natural revegetation on the property. More than 1.5ha was fenced and allowed to regenerate without planting trees and within five years the area has become a haven for the Babbler, an endangered bird in Victoria.
“This was the brainchild of Dr Doug Robinson from the CMA.” Doug said.
“The restoration of Babbler numbers is his pet project and when he told us that the vegetation would come back on its own we were understandably sceptical. We won’t doubt that sort of wisdom again.”
“We could not have embarked upon such a successful program of land restoration without assistance form the Heartlands program. Project Manager Barry Oswald helped with our choice of vegetation and we are very pleased about that.”
Heartlands forms part of the MurrayDarlingBasinprogram for sustainable land use change. For information about the Heartlands and other CMA programs contact the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority on Ph 5761 1611.
Ends
7
th March 2004
Contact: Poppe Davis
Dryland Community Liaison Officer
Goulburn Broken CMA
Ph 5761 6540
Mob 0427 866 328