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 [...]
Renewal in the desert. The Barrier Field Naturalists’ Club And The Broken Hill Regeneration Reserves. Celebrating the restoration vision Of Albert Morris. Filmed in and around Broken Hill in 2017. Script: Virginia Bear and Tein McDonald. Thanks to everyone who assisted during filming in 2017 and editing in 2021. Particular thanks to the following people: [...]
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.
Many plants have evolved with disturbances such as fire –It’s what triggers the resilience response within fire-adapted ecosystems, what prompts the plants to resprout and germinate. But immediately after a large disturbance like fire, the ecosystem is vulnerable, and further disturbance can easily destroy regenerating plants. Read More - Links First Aid for [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
The Koorangie Marshes are part of the Kerang Wetlands Ramsar site that is culturally significant to the Barapa Barapa people. Prolonged waterlogging and rising salinity, which resulted in the death of River Red Gum and Eumong canopies, had historically impacted almost half of the Koorangie marshes. In partnership with the Barapa Barapa peoples the regeneration [...]
Restoring native vegetation cover on an island dominated by Kikuyu and Coastal Morning Glory poses unique challenges, especially when the island provides critical seabird breeding habitat. The Five Islands Nature Reserve is a culturally significant site and the success of the restoration project has been due to the project bringing together the Illawarra Local Aboriginal [...]