Bringing Back Biodiversity

With the land being cleared, grazed and trampled, its diversity had diminished. It’s a slow journey bringing it back to the environment it once was. Whether it’s seeding the grassy areas with the original diverse range of native grasses, which in turn feeds local small birds and insects, or putting life back into the streams, and allowing natives to regenerate and begin to support and nourish the smallest insects and animals, it all forms part of the life circle of the land that we are trying to complete. We have been attempting to slow the water down, running off the hill’s, collecting it in small dam’s to soak into the landscape and putting in swail’s and ripping into the hillsides to allow more water into the land rather than rushing off carrying more topsoil with it.

We reintroduced the local native common yabbies (breeding them from six we purchased) into our deepest dam and after 4 years we seem to have a good supply. We were able to catch some and put them in the next valley in another headwater on Rocklily so they can spread down through the creeks again. There would have normally been this species of yabbie here, but years of fertiliser, sheep, cattle and fishing have seen them disappear. We were surprised and delighted to see a white-faced heron striding through the bracken recently. We would like to think he has returned to the area because now there is a food source in the dam.