Greening Australia has taken to the sky to revegetate very rocky volcanic areas in the Budj Bim cultural landscape between Tyrendarra and Budj Bim (formerly called Mount Eccles).
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It is using small planes to drop specially developed native seed clay balls to revegetate about 400 hectares of stony rise country in the Tyrendarra, Kurtonidtj and Lake Gorrie areas of the Budj Bim landscape.
Greening Australia project manager Dave Warne said it had done aerial seeding before but the project at Budj Bim was the first to drop clay seed balls from the air.
He said the balls survived impact well when dropped from about 100 metres and broke down when rains fells to provide a favourable germination environment.
Funded through the federal government’s 20 Million Trees Program, the revegetation project will use indigenous land management practices to help the seeds to grow.
Greening Australia staff is working with Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, which owns several properties in the Budj Bim area, and Budj Bim rangers on the project.
Mr Warne said aerial seeding was also being used because a bushfire about 12 years ago had left a lot of dead and fallen timber in the area, making seed bed preparation very difficult.
The project will plant five native species including Manna Gum, wattle and non-pallative species.
Greening Australia senior project officer Doug Phillips said many Manna Gum trees on the properties had been killed by either wildfire or browsing tree-dwelling species.
“It’s now time to put Manna Gums back into the Budj Bim Landscape to benefit of nature and people.
“As well as being a nationally endangered vegetation type, Manna Gum Woodlands also provide critical habitat for a number of animals and are one of the few remaining vestiges for the endangered Spotted-tailed Quoll,” Mr Phillips said.
Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation chief executive Damein Bell it saw the restoration of lost vegetation within the Budj Bim Landscape as a priority action.
The federal government has nominated the Budj Bim cultural landscape, which includes the Gunditj Mirring properties, for World Heritage listing because of the aquaculture system that was developed there by aborigines over thousands of years.
