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Recreating the Country blog

Managing Grasslands and Grassy Woodlands    in temperate Australia       -       Part 1                          Why we're losing the battle to save them

4/12/2017

10 Comments

 
PictureA grassland near Rokewood, Victoria. Photo Dale Smithyman
Native grasslands and grassy woodlands are delightful to visit in spring because of their tranquil beauty and absolute uniqueness. Every incredible flowering grassland is as different as the location, climate and soil where it's found.

Tragically these native grasslands are fast disappearing and there are not many unspoiled grasslands left to visit. Of the one third of Victoria that was once covered in native grasslands and grassy woodlands in 1835, less than 0.5% remain today.

The second bitter pill to swallow is that around 40% of Victoria’s threatened animal species depend on these grasslands. So we’re losing a lot more than the wildflowers. We’re losing our irreplaceable, rich and complex grassland ecology as well, that is an integral part of our distinctive Australian heritage.

If you’re reading this blog then you’re likely to agree that protecting these natural assets is worthwhile and needs urgent action. It has become critically important that we make sure that this part of our natural heritage isn't completely lost in the coming decades.


PictureThe Humble Rice-flower, Pimelea humilis. Politicians take note.

Saving grasslands and grassy woodlands

How can we keep our remaining grasslands healthy and in good condition in future years for all Australians to enjoy?

The answer is both cultural and practical.
  • The cultural answer is summed up by one word - caring. By caring we could stop the losses today. More on getting Australians to care in Part 2.
  • The practical answer involves using management techniques like;
(The following methods will be discussed and expanded in future blogs in this grasslands series)

PictureTraditional Owner method of cool burning is the key. Photo Tracey McRae

  • Indigenous cool burning – we have a lot to learn from Australia’s traditional owners. Their knowledge and practices hold the key to protecting and restoring the natural areas that we still have.
  • Click here to read more on traditional owner burning

PictureMerinos prefer to eat the exotice weedy grasses

  • Strategic grazing with sheep. Sheep prefer to eat introduced pasture grasses that have become weeds in natural areas.  Eastern Grey Kangaroos graze differently and prefer native grasses as you might expect. They are both part of the solution.
    Larger hooved animals like cows and horses can damage the soil structure and they break native plants by rubbing against them

  • Click here to read more on grazing with Merinos to manage grassy weeds

  • Slashing and removing the cut grass. Straw from cut grass is part of the problem. It adds nutrients and suppresses the emergence of native plants. Nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in grasslands need to be kept at low levels. Increasing these nutrients favours exotic weeds.
PictureSpraying with herbicide is a necessary temporary solution. Its tedious and expensive

  • Spraying with selective herbicides. This is tedious work  and an expensive process. There is always the risk of collateral damage through the loss of some native plant species. This method is presently widely used but because of the associated risks, it should be minimised when possible and ideally phased out.

PictureRabbits were introduced on Christmas day 1859 and they continue to thwart all efforts to eradicate them.

  • Controlling rabbits is an ongoing commitment. 158 years after they were introduced near Winchelsea Victoria, we have to accept that the rabbit is here to stay. We can aim to keep their numbers low enough to minimise damage to bushland

PicturePaul Gibson-Roy in one of his planted grasslands. Photo: Sandy Scheltema

  • Replanting grasslands is time consuming and meticulous work with a low success rate. The most reliable method developed by Dr. Paul Gibson-Roy costs up to $50,000/ha but it does give excellent results. These costs can be reduced significantly using volunteer labour to collect the indigenous seed needed to sow new grasslands.

PictureBob Hawke planting a tree. Photo courtesy Australian National University
Current government policy won’t save our flora and fauna.

My skeptical view after years working with the system is that governments are only willing to ‘toy’ with the practical solutions because doing the job properly is seen as a mine field of expenditure black holes.

They choose to provide little bits of funding through grants to Landcare and community groups. This practice permits them to boast about all the good work and millions of trees they’re planting. For politicians, planting trees is the environmental equivalent of kissing babies. It’s an opportunity for a newspaper photo but it does little to solve the real problems.

Sadly there doesn’t seem to be any kudos for politicians if they boast that they have protected or restored a grassland. They seem to prefer to have their environmental credentials measured by the numbers of trees that were planted on their watch.

Remember Bob Hawke’s famous election pledge in 1989;
"Bob Hawke crossed his heart and hoped to die if his Labor government didn't honour his 1989 election pledge to plant "a billion trees".

What about saving a billion trees Hawkey?

The present Federal Government Landcare funding has 'lowered the bar' from Bob Hawke's flamboyant boast, but the marketing principal is still the same. Its current funding program is called Twenty Million Trees by 2020.

The sad truth is that governments have to be dragged kicking and screaming to protect a tree, a grassland, a woodland or a forest. It’s much sexier to plant a tree than protect a tree.

There is a widely held view in the community that only tree hugging greenies protect trees and cynically I can imagine a politician asking, 'where's the photo opportunity'?


PictureThe inadequate funding system is built around a drip feed of grants for tree planting
The current biodiversity funding system is unworkable

What we have been lumbered with is an extremely inefficient system built around a drip feed of grants for tree planting.

What we need is a system that prioritises protecting and enhancing the bushland reserves that we have while building substantial vegetation corridors connecting them. Some significant new reserves could be part of this new system

To be fair there is some grant money for biodiversity protection which focuses on the control of invading introduced pest species like grassy weeds and rabbits. This is a lifeline for conservation volunteers who spend their weekends trying to hold back the tide of exotic invaders. However this money is grossly inadequate to do the job properly. It’s also far too short term because it's usually provided for just one or two year’s work.

Haven’t politicians and their advisers heard the age old gardener’s mantra? ‘One year’s seeding leads to seven years weeding’. Biodiversity grants should be ongoing to enable pest plants and animals to be managed in the long term.


PictureThe present grant system 'burns out' a lot of good people
We are ‘burning out’ good people.

This system also ‘burns out’ a lot of good people who spend days and weeks fruitlessly applying for grants. Since the grant system was introduced it has without exception returned unacceptably low levels of success. The average Landcarer very quickly loses heart because applying for grants is seen as a waste of precious time. As a consequence many worthy projects have never been started.

Little or no monitoring.

The other side to this frustrating system is that we are getting a tragically low ‘bang for our buck’ as taxpayers. This is because there is little or no monitoring of the outcomes of tree planting. No one knows how many plants survive each year and how the results could have been improved. There are many great results but there are also many very poor results where there is not a tree surviving to show for a multi-thousand dollar project.


PictureOur taxes have funded the planting of millions of trees, but we have no idea how many have survived

A local farmer who planted around 10,000 indigenous plants in 2016 mentioned that he achieved only 20% survival because of the dry spring.

Governments don’t seem to be interested in these statistics, but they are statistics that are critical to understanding how to achieve better planting results in the future as well as the best use of these tax payer dollars.


PictureThe very rare and beautiful Pussy Tails, Ptilotus erubescens. Going, going ..........
We’re losing the race

The sad indictment is that we are still losing more native vegetation than we are planting or saving.

"Approximately 1,600 ha of woody vegetation and 3,000 ha of rare grassy native vegetation continue to be lost annually in Victoria, only a small proportion of this is matched by vegetation offsets”
   Matt Ruchell : Executive Director Victorian National Parks Associations (March 2012)

A simple solution that politicians don’t want to hear.

A simple solution that would dramatically accelerate restoration work is tax incentives for landowners. This is an effective and historically successful method of changing spending behaviour. It also returns the initiative to the landowners who are more likely to be aware of the problems to address and assets to protect on their properties. 

This isn't a popular idea with governments because it takes away their control of some of the environmental budget's spending. If they thought it through more thoroughly, they would have to acknowledge the potential to bring about huge environmental changes far more efficiently.

For example, if the Federal Government offered 150 - 200% deductions on all private money spent on protecting and restoring the natural environment, we would engage a lot more farmers. This single initiative would also free up Landcare facilitators from the thankless task of writing grant applications. Their time could be better spent in the field advising farmers, improving their success and auditing the years revegetation projects.



The long term answer involves cultural change.
Part 2 on 'raising the profile of the natural environment' will be posted in January 2018

'Have a safe and enjoyable Christmas & New Year'
Good cheer,
Steve

10 Comments
Angie
6/12/2017 09:24:30 am

Hi Steve,

Another great blog, sadly true. Love your language and ideas. Thanks again.

Have a great Christmas and hope the move to your new place is going well.

Angie

Reply
Steve
7/12/2017 10:08:04 pm

HI Angie,
I still feel optimistic that the powers that be will eventually begin to really value and protect Australia's natural assets. As workers in the conservation field we know a lot about how to protect and restore them, its getting a long term commitment from our polys that seems elusive

Reply
Glen White
7/12/2017 08:16:14 pm

Hi Steve
Your observations & thoughtful comments both depress & alarm me, but encourage me to push harder where we can make changes - there are politicians within our system who are prepared to listen & I'm prepared to give them a shove in the right direction.
Thanks for introducing me to the Teesdale Grassy Woodlands.
Glen White

Reply
Steve
7/12/2017 09:54:43 pm

Hi Glen,
Thank you for pushing harder to bring about change. I feel so fortunate to live near the Teesdale Grassy Woodlands. The treasures that it holds just keep giving and unfolding.

The wonderful thing is that wherever you happen to live, there is likely to be a reserve or park to discover and explore. You just have to listen to your inner child and take those first tentative steps into the wilderness and you'll never be the same again

Reply
Richard Murphy
8/12/2017 03:38:56 pm

Under strategic management livestock (cattle, sheep, horses) become tools that land managers can use to increase the density and diversity of pastures to include a strong representation of native grasses while farmers continue to achieve, or even increase, production and profit targets. Where implementing Holistic Planned Grazing, farmers have been able to massively increase native grasses (kangaroo grass, wallaby grass, weeping grass) populations. Rather than detrimental to soil structure, the hard hooves press organic matter against the soil surface providing food for soil organisms whose growth and activity build soil structure, release bound soil nutrients and increase soil carbon. Native grasses have good grazing qualities. Animals will only rub against trees causing damage where the stock have been allowed to linger too long. This will not happen where stock are moved regularly.

The opportunity to nurture and increase native grasses on private farm land through strategic grazing has been demonstrated and should not be underestimated.

Reply
Steve
8/12/2017 04:13:58 pm

Thanks for those insightful comments Richard. The use of Holistic Planned Grazing as a strategy for maintaining native grass cover can only benefit farmers who want to provide green pick for stock in the summer months. Kangaroo grass and Weeping grass are particularly good at responding to summer rains and they are very nutritious as well.

I'm not sure how native forbes respond to this type of grazing. Keeping stock off grasslands in peak flowering times would also be critical to the survival of all grassland species.

Reply
Stephen Pennells
13/12/2017 05:38:18 pm

Strathbogie Voices
@BogieVoices shared your blog...Thanks

KUYANG LAPAKIRA Plenty Eels - Previous forums speakers spoke on Grasslands.

Another on Wetlands with grazing short term to preserve the seedbank, weeks earlier Michelle had taken a scoop placed in an aquarium watered we saw the results!..http://www.eelfestival.org.au/

Reply
Steve
13/12/2017 09:44:41 pm

Thanks Stephen for pointing me in the direction for the Lake Bolac Eel Festival site. http://www.eelfestival.org.au/about.html.

I took the time to read 'A Healing Walk' by Neil Murray. Quite inspiring and a beautiful piece of writing.

Reply
John Delpratt
15/12/2017 09:41:49 pm

From John Delpratt; David Franklin; Liz Fenton and Paul Gibson Roy
Thank you, Steve, for your stirring, informative and accessible 'call to arms' for our precious grasslands. Each of us has been involved with the restoration of diverse native grassy communities since the inception of the Grassy Groundcover Research Program (GGRP) more than a decade ago. The restoration of both small and large tracts of diverse native grasslands and grassy woodlands is achievable and must be positively promoted. The simple and effective protocols developed and refined through the GGRP reliably produce native grassy communities, with the level of diversity, and the cost, dependent on the site conditions and the species available for direct sowing, or subsequent enhancement. Restoration is ideal for protecting and buffering existing remnants, an approach that also expands overall habitat for both common and rare species. It is also ideal for replacing exotic-dominated landscapes (such as public roadsides) with low-biomass, summer-green native communities. Properly managed, restored vegetation is beautiful, and can help us to return a powerful and evocative sense-of-place to our rural landscapes.

Many continue to dismiss grassy restoration as too costly. Restoration costs are project- and resource-dependant. If resources are locally available at low cost then so is the restoration cost. By carefully following GGRP protocols, community groups are using locally-produced or harvested seed to direct sow diverse grasslands, with remarkable success, at what are comparatively (to other planting methods) extremely reasonable per ha costs. Such outcomes are typically achieved when projects harness the support of local communities, councils and land management agencies (i.e. volunteers and in-kind contributions).

Your oft-quoted figure ($50K per ha), while frequently used as a disincentive, simply reinforces the loss incurred whenever careless human actions destroy these critically endangered ecological communities.

Reply
Steve
20/12/2017 08:30:02 am

Thank you John, David, Liz and Paul. What a great summery of the benefits of maintaining and restoring grasslands. I agree that the costs can be reduced significantly with the help of local resourceful people.

I often contemplate the delicate and refined nature of grassland plants. I have a beautiful photo of my wife on her knees smelling a Chocolate Lily, a fitting metaphor for the respect and reverence that our grasslands deserve.

Reply



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    Stephen Murphy is an author and ecologist. He has worked as a nurseryman and designer of natural landscapes for over 30 years. He loves the bush, actively supporting Landcare and conservation initiatives throughout Australia
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  • Home
  • be Challenged
    • Design to restore lost biodiversity >
      • Diversity >
        • Making a list of plants for revegetation
      • Structure >
        • Ecology Snapshot - wildlife and their habitat
      • Species survival
      • Location - connections
      • Blueprint for Recreating the Counrty
    • Biodiversity and profit >
      • Designing for profit
    • Managing sustainable biorich landscapes
  • be Informed
    • Indigenous flora of the Geelong district >
      • Indigenous plants - what & why
      • Acacias, wattles of the Geelong Region
      • Acacias - the cafes of the bush
      • Allocasuarinas/drooping sheoaks, Black Sheoak & Callitris glaucophylla/cypress-pine
      • Bursaria spinosa, Sweet Bursaria
      • Eucalypts, The Sentinals
      • Exocarpos cupressiformis, Cherry Ballart
      • Moonah, Melaleuca lanceolata
      • Small riparian myrtles
      • Wedge-leaf/Giant Hop-bush, Dodonaea viscosa
      • Wild Plants of Inverleigh
      • Tree Violet - as tenacious as a terrier
    • Nurseryman's diary >
      • Regent Honeyeater - a good news story
      • Give me a home among the gum trees
      • Symbiotic fungi
      • The joys of seed collecting
      • Landcare, who cares?
      • The last Silver Banksia
      • Neds Corner
      • River Red Gums and the Tuscan monks
  • be Entertained
    • Stories for children >
      • Amie and the intoxicated kangaroos
      • The Little Green Caterpillar
      • B'emus'ed - a Christmas tale of bursairas and emus
    • Stories about the natural world >
      • Brushtail
      • Cormorant
      • Eastern Bettongs. 'Truffle junkies' or 'ecosystem engineers'
      • Richards Sweet Rewards
      • Coxy's Curse
      • How the River Red Gum came to be - A dreamtime story
  • Bookshop
  • Blog
    • Easy blog finder
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