Landholders are needed to help boost dwindling Silver Banksia populations across the Agricultural Floodplains in the Goulburn Broken Catchment’s north.
Landholders are needed to help boost dwindling Silver Banksia populations across the Agricultural Floodplains in the Goulburn Broken Catchment’s north.
Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (GB CMA) Project Officer Jim Begley said Banksia marginata (Silver Banksia) was once common across Northern Victoria.
“The Silver Banksia flowers provide nectar for insects, honeyeater birds and small mammals like sugar gliders and produces seed cones that are an ideal food source for Gang Gang and Yellow-Tailed Black Cockatoos,” Mr Begley said.
“However, over the past 200 years the Silver Banksia has been cleared to the extent that it is now down to the very last remaining populations in this region. Being a very palatable species to rabbits and livestock, any regeneration of juvenile plants has struggled to make it to maturity, leaving only small declining populations.”
The Goulburn Broken CMA, in partnership with the CSIRO, has established the Bringing Back the Silver Banksia Project to identify the genetic diversity of remaining Silver Banksia trees to help build healthy and resilient populations.
“We are seeking landholders who are interested in planting populations of Silver Banksia on their property, or working across property boundaries to plant larger populations of the species,” Mr Begley said.
Mr Begley said Silver Banksia preferred well-drained sandy loam soils, however they had been found on a variety of soil types.
“We will provide landholders who have suitable planting sites with plant stock and guards and other support depending on the size of the site,” he said. “We would prefer sites that have native species diversity and the potential to link to other sites, rather than planting into weedy sites.”
The project is part of the broader Sand Ridge Woodlands Project, funded by the Australian Government and being delivered by the Goulburn Broken and Murray CMAs, Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation, Parks Victoria and DEPI. The Sand Ridge Woodlands Project aims to protect the cultural heritage values of sand hills across Yorta Yorta country either side of the Murray River.
For further information about either project, please contact Jim Begley on 03 5761 1574.