Fragmentation

Damien Cook, ecologist and co-founder of the Wetland Revival Trust (WRT)  outlines the project planning process the WRT are using to implement their goals outlined in the Blueprint for Action which include Ensuring restoration is based on sound science and practical knowledge: Embedding the National Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration in their work processes [...]

Heroes of the Big Scrub is an inspiring story of landscape scale restoration. The video showcases the people who understood the processes of rainforest restoration ecology, and have dedicated their life's work to enabling substantial recovery of the Big Scrub against all odds. The video looks at the role of assisted natural regeneration and revegetation [...]

The following questions were posed to Dr Tony Parkes at the AABR AGM held 19/2/22. 00:25 Why don’t we value the Big scrub and when do you think it will change? 02:45 Is this work being done elsewhere in the world…The Science Saving Rainforests? 04:45 In the genome project are the species limited to those [...]

Big Scrub Landcare are now driving an innovative program to ensure that all plantings use genetically diverse planting stock to overcome potential inbreeding and build greater adaptability to climate change within the landscape. Dr Tony Parkes (AO) - retired organic chemist and merchant banker (turned rainforest restorer) - is the Founder and President of Big [...]

Dr Tein McDonald provides the background to the upcoming AABR Video on Heroes of Big Scrub Recovery and sets the scene for Tony Parkes talk on the Big Scrub Landcare's (BSL) Science Saving Rainforest project. Big Scrub was a once a 75,000 ha swathe of subtropical rainforest on the volcanic soils of the north coast [...]

Federal, State and Regional agencies along with community groups and private landholders have all been striving to address the consequences of the bushfires of 2019-20. This Zoom webinar highlighted the insights, actions and opportunities that are occurring as the ecosystems transition with various levels of support.

A six year - $250,000 Environmental Trust project enabled a community group to formally identify threatened species, record and monitor the local flora and fauna and undertake bush regeneration which has aided connectivity and set the multiple public reserves on a recovery trajectory. An assortment of community engagement events were undertaken and a plethora of [...]

Does size matter? Victoria Park Nature Reserve is a small fragment of the once mighty Big Scrub sub-tropical rainforest. Reflecting on 40 years of monitoring, Tein McDonald highlights the significant contributions to the understanding of rainforest succession that this reserve has made. Monitoring of Camphor laurel removal using species composition surveys and photopoints, clearly demonstrates [...]

Comprehensive strategic planning and site assessments, coupled with thinking creatively around landscape connections are some of the ingredients required to scale up projects. By understanding the capacity of assisted regeneration, a spectrum of bush regenerator skill levels and resources can be utilised to maximise outcomes.  Jen Ford provides two examples that explore how the planning [...]

Rainforest restoration pioneers, Big Scrub Landcare, are again at the forefront of restoration ecology investigating solutions to the problem of genetic inbreeding in the hundreds of thousands of Big Scrub plantings. With the long term viability of the Big Scrub and associated investment at stake, they have developed a strategy to test for genetic diversity, [...]