Quarterly magazine Myrtle rust All eyes focussed on Hawkweed

the
kingfisher
Quarterly magazine
2
Issue
Myrtle rust
All eyes focussed on Hawkweed
Tambo Bluff - making history
The bait has been taken ...
Questions about carbon?
of the East Gippsland Landcare Network Inc.
hello
from the Landcare team
In loving memory of
So far, this year is proving to be a great growing
season and this has been reflected within the
Landcare community. Landcare volunteers are
doing what they do best – getting their hands dirty;
it has made for a very busy and exciting Spring
within East Gippsland.
Charlie Eric
Albornoz
who passed away on 20.10.11
from a heart defect.
There have been some changes within the
Network, as the Annual General Meeting was
held at the beginning of October. The previous
committee did a fantastic job and have paved the
way for the new committee who are:
President – Dot Bryant (Lower Tambo)
Vice President – Andrew Brown (Clifton Creek)
Secretary – Michelle Judd (Romawi)
Treasurer – Trevor Howden (Glenaladale)
Committee – Lance Martin (Glenaladale)
Committee – Norm Wilkinson (Dargo)
The next round of Network projects are starting,
so all members who expressed interest in being
involved should receive a site visit over November
and December, to further discuss their project sites.
As Christmas is fast approaching, I wish all
members a fantastic holiday season and look
forwards to seeing you all in the New Year.
An angel in the book of life, wrote down our baby’s
birth and whispered as he closed the book, too
beautiful for this earth.
Our thoughts are with Kelly and Luey Albornoz.
contents
Regards
Natalie Jenkins – Network Coordinator
Myrtle rust
3
Summer by the sea
9
Project achievements 2011-11
4
Up coming events
10
Maintenance time
4
Home Sweet Home 10
All eyes focussed on Hawkweed 5
Questions about carbon?
11
Tambo Bluff - making history pt 1
6
Sustainable Soils Program Stage 2
7
The bait has been taken...
8
© East Gippsland Landcare Network Inc., 2011. This work is
copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act
1968, no part may be reproduced by any process, nor can any
other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of the
East Gippsland Landcare Network Inc.
Published October 2011
2
Disclaimer
This publication may be of assistance to you but the East
Gippsland Landcare Network Inc. and its employees do not
guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is
wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore
disclaims any liability for any error, loss or other consequences that
may arise from you relying on the information in this publication.
Myrtle rust
symptoms on
willow myrtle
- Dr Angus
Carnegie
© I & I NSW
Myrtle rust
Myrtle rust (Uredo rangelii) is a serious
fungal disease affecting the plant
family Myrtaceae, which includes many
Australian natives commonly found in
Victorian gardens and parklands.
Myrtle rust is widespread on the eastern seaboard
of New South Wales (NSW) and in south-east
Queensland. Locations range from commercial
plant nurseries, public gardens, parks and
streetscapes to large areas of bushland.
Under the right conditions, myrtle rust may slow
regeneration of native forests after harvesting
or bushfire and could, in extreme circumstances,
change forest biodiversity.
Myrtle rust poses no threat to human or
animal health.
Small purple
spots on
turpentine
(Syncarpia
glomulifera)
- Industry &
Investment
NSW
What does myrtle rust look like?
Myrtle rust attacks young, soft, actively growing
leaves, shoot tips and young stems, as well as fruits
and flower parts of susceptible plants. The first
signs of myrtle rust infection are tiny raised spots
that are brown to grey, often with red-purple haloes.
Up to 14 days after infection, the spots produce
masses of distinctive yellow/orange spores.
What do I do if I think I have seen
myrtle rust?
Report any suspected detection to DPI via the
Exotic Plant Pest Hotline 1800 084 881 (toll-free).
Alternatively, email photos of the suspect material,
together with a contact phone number and the
plant’s location, to plant.protection@dpi.vic.gov.au
Under Victorian legislation DPI must be notified
without delay of all plants suspected of being
infected with myrtle rust.
To avoid spreading the disease:
▪▪ Do not touch, move or collect samples of the
suspect plant material
▪▪ Do not go to another site with any host materials
▪▪ Decontaminate yourself and your clothes,
vehicle and equipment.
Further information
More myrtle rust images and updates can be found at:
Myrtle rust
symptoms
on scrub
turpentine
(showing
purple lesions)
- Industry &
Investment
NSW
▪▪ www.dpi.vic.gov.au
▪▪ www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/biosecurity
▪▪ www.dpi.qld.gov.au
▪▪ www.outbreak.gov.au
3
Nungurner
Landcare
Group
Project
achievements
2010-11
The Network’s annual projects have
wrapped up for this financial year
and thanks to all our volunteers,
outstanding results were achieved:
80,318 seedlings were planted, 43.5
km of fences were constructed and the
area of project sites totalled 1,134 ha.
Over the past 12 months Landcare volunteers
have been involved in the Network’s region wide
projects, activities such as revegetation, land class
fencing, grazing management fencing, protecting
remnant vegetation, waterways and wetlands and
releasing dung beetles. Through the efforts of the
volunteers all project targets were met.
Due to the passion and caring attitude of the
volunteers, local people are making a difference to
their local environments.
Maintenance
time
From a revegetation perspective, the
past 12 month period has been the best
for planting in over a decade – at the
time of writing, the Bairnsdale area has
received around 750mm of rain since
October 1st last year. That’s the highest
since ’98 (except for 2007, but the total
then was skewed by 322mm in the July
that caused huge floods).
The weather people at the Bureau are now saying
that we are moving into another La Nina event,
which means that southern areas can expect at least
historically average rainfall between now and next
winter. That’s great news for anyone who has been
planting seedlings; however, what’s good for your
tube stock is also good for the weeds and now is
the time to start controlling them.
Maintaining your revegetation area is absolutely
critical. Remember that planting is just the
beginning - it’s the maintenance that so often
makes it successful. Spot spray around the
seedlings to keep a 1m circle free of weeds; replace
missing or damaged guards (we have supplies);
check for pests nibbling your seedlings, and if they
are then target the pests; consider using a preemergent spray to prevent continuing germination
of weed seeds around your plants (agricultural
chemical suppliers can advise you on this). You
don’t have to do this forever, just for the first 2 to 3
years and then your plants should be up and away.
If you need any advice on looking after your
revegetation then please contact the Landcare office.
4
Left: Picnic
Point Wetland
boardwalk
All eyes focussed on
Hawkweeds (Hieracicum spp) are
extremely invasive plants with a number
of species being problem weeds in New
Zealand and other countries.
Hawkweed infestations can be found in a
number of locations around Australia, including
Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales,
Falls Creek and Mt Buller in Victoria and various
locations across Tasmania.
Originating in Europe, these pretty perennial and
annual herbs have the potential to severely damage
Australia’s alpine ecosystems by out-competing
native grasses and wild flowers. The name
Hieracium comes from the Greek word ‘hierax’,
meaning hawk. The ancient Greeks reputedly
coined the term ‘hawkweed’ because they thought
that hawks ate the sap of these plants to sharpen
their eyesight.
A Victorian Alpine Hawkweed Eradication
Group has been formed to coordinate hawkweed
eradication at both Falls Creek and Mt Buller.
The partnership approach comprises of the
Department of Primary Industries (DPI), Parks
Victoria, the Resort Management Boards (Falls
Creek and Mount Buller/Mount Sterling) and Ski
Lift Companies of both alpine resorts.
The eradication program is comprised of two main
components:
a. surveillance to determine the extent of the
incursion and to detect new infestation sites
within the known infested area; and
b. monitoring and treating all known infestation
sites as part of the eradication effort.
Weekly surveillance, monitoring and treatment is
undertaken from November to March each year to
coincide with the key flowering period.
Results of the hawkweed eradication efforts at
Falls Creek and Mt Buller have shown a measurable
decrease in the total number of infestation sites,
particularly in the last three years. At Falls Creek
last season, survey efforts led to the detection of
three new sites, all in areas not previously known
to be infested. Additional surveillance is planned
for these areas in the coming season, to determine
the extent of these infested sites and to again
search for any new sites.
For further information contact the DPI Service
Centre on 136 186.
Article by Karen Herbert – Biosecurity Leader, Incursion Controller
Orange
Hawkweed
- DPI
Bairnsdale
5
Revegetation
activities at
Tambo Bluff
- Tambo Bluff
Landcare
Coastcare
Tambo Bluff
making history pt1
Thomas Telfer Stirling selected 305
acres at Tambo Bluff near Metung as
the homestead block for his extensive
leasehold cattle run in the 1860s.
He probably did so with a strong sense of
optimism. He was a young man in a new country
full of opportunity. Chances are there was plenty
of lush kangaroo grass for his horses in the Red
Gum woodland. Steep gullies sheltered by dense
canopies of Blackwood and Swamp Paperbark led
to two permanent freshwater lagoons overflowing
into brackish Lake King. The artificial entrance did
not yet exist. Wildlife was abundant. Leonard Fell
recalled regularly shooting “80 Black Ducks before
breakfast” off Dolphin Lagoon in the 1920s when
his family farmed the Bluff. The property was
gazetted as a Sanctuary for Native Game in 1923.
A recent survey uncovered extensive occupation
remnants, evidence of thousands of years of
aboriginal habitation prior to British occupation
and the declaration of terra nullius. By the 1860s,
the aboriginal survivors were probably not at all
optimistic about their own future. Twenty years
after the massacre at nearby Butchers Creek (1841)
it’s unlikely anyone remained with the desire or
inclination to hunt and camp above Bluff Lagoon
under the sheltering Coast Grey Box trees and gaze
6
out across Lake King to Raymond Island, Boole
Poole and the eastern reaches of Lake Victoria.
At some stage it became apparent that cattle were
unsuited to the thin eroding soils and sheep were
introduced. During the Fells’ ownership peas were
grown on the better ground. Vegetation clearing
continued and an aerial photograph from the
1940s shows little left except fringing vegetation
and a handful of mature trees. By 1960 farming
on Tambo Bluff was uneconomic and the land
was sold for sub-division. 1228 lots were created,
Dolphin
Lagoon Tambo Bluff
Landcare
Coastcare
Development Order (1982) eventually emanated
from the Planning Ministry which allowed
development on about 320 restructured lots.
Volunteer
members of
Tambo Bluff
Landcare
Coastcare
group Tambo Bluff
Landcare
Coastcare
The ‘estate’ had fallen into disrepair. Gravel roads
were rutted and overgrown, agisted sheep were
left to grow their tails and rot from fly-strike; feral
cats, rabbits and foxes found paradise. But human
neglect had a positive side and regrowth persisted
against the odds. Brown quail were common in the
long grass and birds of prey were constant sight
patrolling the lagoons and plains. Sea-eagles nested
in a dead Red Gum at Bunya St. In places the
gullies offered shade in summer, albeit provided
almost exclusively by large Black Wattles and a few
Blackwoods. Battered and bruised after a century
of exploitation, Tambo Bluff was in desperate
need of an environmental makeover.
each about 1/8 acre with a few smaller shopsites. A road grid was laid out to service the new
“Blue Horizon Estate” and overhead power was
brought in as far as the real estate agent’s office,
a fibro shack in Allen St. Few lots were sold,
despite promotion by Hal Todd and Channel 9
television. In 1978 the Town and Country Planning
Board stopped further development on the
grounds that lot size was insufficient to contain
septic tank effluent within a property. An Interim
In 1992 the long-awaited Gippsland Lakes
Management Plan was published. The
environmental recommendations pertaining to
Tambo Bluff were taken up by a small number
of landowners and used as the basis for forming
the Tambo Bluff Landcare Group which became
incorporated under the VFF in 1993.
Article by Jonathon Smith, Tambo Bluff
Landcare Coastcare
Sustainable Soils Program Stage 2
Clifton Creek Community Landcare Group
Over the past 12 months Clifton Creek
Landcare has been carrying out a
pasture trial, to “see what works in the
local district”.
Two sites were selected with each site being
divided into a number of individually marked plots.
Various treatments are occurring across the plots,
including organic and chemical treatments.
To date, there has been an observed reaction to
aeration at one site in particular, but generally the
observation has been that the program needs to
be further extended to expand the opportunity to
further build on knowledge especially related to the
ongoing grazing management of the trial plots.
A Field Day/Farm Walk at both sites will be
held Sunday November 20, starting at the Clifton
Community Hall, Deptford Road at 10:30 am. ALL
WELCOME
Article by Andrew Brown Clifton Creek Community
Landcare Group
7
The bait
has been taken…
Some figures just in from the DSE’s Southern Ark project (a multi-agency,
collaborative landscape scale approach to fox management, which aims to boost
biodiversity by protecting small native mammals, birds and reptiles from fox and
wild dog predation) show the benefits of landowners and agencies cooperating on
fox and dog baiting.
Community members and agencies working together in 3 areas (Marlo Plains, Bete Bolong/Jarrahmond
and Deddick/Tubbut/Bendoc) laid 17,000 baits between them during spring 2010 and autumn 2011.
Monitoring showed that 5,100 were taken (30%) which equates to a substantial reduction in the target
species. The figures also showed that the spring baiting programme saw a much larger percentage of baits
taken, underscoring the importance of timing when targeting any pest species.
Ken Skews, a Landcare member in Ensay, has joined forces with 20 of his neighbours to start an ongoing
baiting programme on their own properties which complements the baiting being undertaken on adjacent
public land. The programme started 6 months ago and Ken reports a noticeable decrease in stock
losses and sightings of wild dogs. Packs of dogs have disappeared from the baiting area, and one of the
landowners involved commented that for the first time in years he couldn’t hear dogs howling at night any
more.
Ken pointed out that baiting is not a silver bullet solution to wild dogs, but should be used in an integrated
approach also involving fencing (which needs to be maintained), trapping and shooting, with baits being
located in those areas where dogs are likely to enter a property.
Article by Paul Harvey, East Gippsland Landcare Network Inc.
Wild dog Tara
Range - DPI
Bairnsdale
8
Fun and exciting activities for the whole
family are held in East Gippsland
during the summer holidays.
Below is a table showing the multitude
of options available in just the first five
days of January. For a complete list
please call Jeremy Neilson - CoastCare
Faciitator on 03 5152 0431.
Location
Activity
Lakes Entrance
Coastcare Out
& About
Lakes Entrance
Junior Biologist
Raymond Island
Activity Description
Date
Time
Booking
Requirement
Sun 1 Jan
10:00AM 3:00PM
Not Required
Fish Disection
Mon 2 Jan
10:00AM 11:30AM
Essential
51520600
Fishy Business
Fish Right With Fishcare
Mon 2 Jan
10:00AM 12:00PM
Not Required
Lake Tyers
Junior Biologist
Fish Disection
Mon 2 Jan
1:00PM 2:30PM
Essential
51520600
Lakes Entrance
Coastkids
Marine Art & Games
Tue 3 Jan
10:00AM 12:00PM
Not Required
Lake Tyers
Coastkids
Marine Art & Games
Tue 3 Jan
1:00PM 3:00PM
Not Required
Cape Conran
Junior Biologist
Fish Disection
Wed 4 Jan
10:00AM 11:30AM
Essential
51520600
Lake Tyers
Fishy Business
Fish Right With Fishcare
Wed 4 Jan
10:00AM 12:00PM
Not Required
Lakes Entrance
Coastal
Discovery
Lakes Entrance Boat Tour
with birdwatching and
sceintific monitoring
Wed 4 Jan
10:00AM 12:30PM
Essential
0458511438
Cape Conran
Coastkids
Marine Art & Games
Wed 4 Jan
1:00PM 3:00PM
Not Required
Lakes Entrance
Into the Blue
Beware Reef Marine
Sanctuary Film &
Photography Night
Wed 4 Jan
8:00PM 9:30PM
Not Required
Lake Tyers
Coastkids
Marine Art & Games
Thu 5 Jan
10:00AM 12:00PM
Not Required
Cape Conran
Rockpool
Ramble
Thu 5 Jan
12:30PM 1:30PM
Not Required
Lakes Entrance
Coastkids
Marine Art & Games
Thu 5 Jan
1:00PM 3:00PM
Not Required
Lake Tyers
Walk on the
Wild Side
Spotlight Walk
Thu 5 Jan
8:00PM 10:00PM
Not Required
9
up coming events
Home Sweet Home
Over the past two years, Nagle
College’s Eco Warrior Program
has been building nesting boxes
for Landcare members and groups,
approximately 100 per year.
All the hard work has been rewarded, with critters
moving in.
A sugar glider making its home in an Eco Warrior
nest box, erected within a wattle patch. (Photo:
Andrea Savage – Nagle College)
10
carbon?
Questions about
We’ve had a number of enquiries from members asking about carbon farming
and carbon credits. Put simply, there are 2 relevant things happening in Australia
at the moment.
One is the Federal Government’s Carbon Farming
Initiative, and the other is the establishment of a
fixed price per tonne of carbon within Australia.
The Carbon Farming Initiative, introduced to
parliament in March, includes:
▪▪ Legislation to establish a carbon crediting
mechanism
▪▪ Fast-tracked development of methodologies for
offset projects
▪▪ Information and tools to help farmers and
landholders benefit from carbon markets
Meanwhile, the price of carbon has been fixed at
$23.00 per tonne, and will be levied against the top
500 polluters in Australia from next year. It will
then rise incrementally until a full trading emission
scheme begins in 2015.
When and if we get to the stage of vegetation /
revegetation attracting some sort of carbon-related
income or credit, it seems reasonable to assume
that Landcare – being the only natural resource
organisation concentrating on private land – will be
involved or at least consulted. Watch this space! In
the meantime, if you would like to add your details
to a database of members potentially interested
in utilising either their remnant vegetation or
revegetated areas in any future carbon farming
scenario then please let Paul Harvey on
03 5152 0608.
What are carbon credits?
Carbon credits represent abatement of greenhouse
gases which is achieved by:
▪▪ Reducing or avoiding emissions, for example,
through capture and destruction of methane
emissions from landfill or livestock manure; or
▪▪ Removing carbon from the atmosphere and
storing it in soil or trees, for example, by growing
a forest or reducing tillage on a farm in a way
that increases soil carbon.
They are usually purchased and used by individuals
or companies to cancel out or ‘offset’ the
emissions they generate during their day-to-day
life or normal course of business, for example, by
consuming electricity or catching a plane.
Carbon credits can be used to offset emissions
voluntarily or to meet regulatory requirements.
Article by Paul Harvey, East Gippsland Landcare
Network Inc.
11
Membership form
Want to join Landcare?
Please complete this form and return to:
East Gippsland Landcare Network Inc.
PO Box 1498
Bainsdale 3875
Note: If sending a cheque, please make it out to your choice of Landcare Group - as
listed below
Surname name (s)
First name (s)
Mailing address
Phone no.
Mobile no.
Email
Property address
(If different to
mailing address)
Signature
Membership type
ð Family
ð
Individual
Note: For insurance purposes, all members of a family membership must be listed.
Which group would you like to be a member of?
Please tick box
ð Bairnsdale Urban $20.00
ð Bengworden $22.00
ð Bruthen $20.00
ð Buchan $16.50
ð Clifton Creek $20.00
ð Cobblers Creek $10.00
ð Colquhoun North Arm
ð Dargo $20.00
ð Eagle Point-Paynesville
ð Flaggy Creek $10.00
ð Friends of
ð Gelantipy $20.00
ð Glenaladale $25.00
ð Lower Tambo $25.00
ð Nicholson River $30.00
ð Nungurner $20.00 ð Raymond Island $20.00
ð Romawi $25.00
$20.00 $25.00
Picnic Point
ð Swifts Creek/Ensay $11.00 ð Tambo Bluff
ð Toms Creek $20.00
12
$20.00
$20.00
ð Timbarra $20.00