Overview:
We can transform a paddock into the largest, most southerly block of endangered Grey Box woodland in Australia. This could be a critical climate change-refuge for threatened Koalas, Brush-tailed Phascogale & Grey-headed Flying-fox & Fat-tailed Dunnart; critically endangered Swift Parrot, endangered Speckled Warbler & Barking Owl, vulnerable Diamond Firetail, Brown Treecreeper and Jacky Winter; endangered Tussock Skink & Glossy Grass Skink; endangered Fiery Jewel Butterfly and vulnerable Golden Sun Moth.
Janine Duffy, President
Location: Balliang, west of Melbourne, northwest of the You Yangs
Status: Confirmed and completed. Planting is complete, 8019 koala trees planted over 9.83 hectares.
This project was fully funded, and plantings occurred over 11 days from late June to late August 2022. 149 volunteers contributed 596 hours of planting.
Thankyou to our most significant project donors:
International Fund for Animal Welfare IFAW https://www.ifaw.org/au
City of Greater Geelong through its ‘Environment Sustainability Grant Program’ https://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/
Number of trees/shrubs: 8019
Size of planting site: 9.83 hectares, 0.49km along a waterway.
Contact: president@koalaclancyfoundation.org.au
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Vision:
Complete restoration of a 10 hectare block of endangered Grey Box Eucalyptus microcarpa woodland at Balliang, VIC. The site was once part of a large swathe of this species-rich open eucalypt forest, but was cleared for farmland in the early 1900s.
Revegetating this site will restore the largest, most southerly block of this endangered forest type in Australia. Threatened mammals that may benefit include vulnerable Koalas, Brush-tailed Phascogale & Grey-headed Flying-fox, near threatened Fat-tailed Dunnart; threatened birds like the critically endangered Swift Parrot, endangered Speckled Warbler & Barking Owl, vulnerable Diamond Firetail, Brown Treecreeper and Jacky Winter; endangered reptiles including Tussock Skink & Glossy Grass Skink; endangered Fiery Jewel Butterfly and vulnerable Golden Sun Moth.
What species will we plant:
Note: species shown in bold are the dominant plants that we planted in high proportion. The site is adjacent to a wetland and includes a depression.
TREES:
River Red Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis
Melbourne Yellow Gum Eucalyptus leucoxylon ssp connata
Yellow Box Eucalyptus melliodora
Grey Box Eucalyptus microcarpa
Red Box Eucalyptus polyanthemos
SMALL TREES/LARGE SHRUBS:
Gold-dust Wattle Acacia acinacea
Silver Wattle Acacia dealbata
Lightwood Acacia implexa
Black Wattle Acacia mearnsii
Blackwood Acacia melanoxylon
Buloke Allocasuarina luehmannii
Drooping She-oak Allocasuarina verticillata
Sweet Bursaria Bursaria spinosa
Hop Bush Dodonea viscosa
Tree Violet Melicytus dentatus
SMALL SHRUBS
Berry Saltbush Atriplex semibaccata
Lobe-seed Daisy Brachyscome dentata
Cut-leaf Daisy Brachyscome multifida
Common Everlasting Chrysocephalum apiculatum
Clustered Everlasting Chrysocephalum semipapposum
Button Everlasting Coronidium scorpoides (Helichrysum)
Flax-lily Dianella longifolia
Nodding Saltbush Einadia nutans
Ruby Saltbush Enchylaena tomentosa
Scaly Buttons Leptorhychos squamatus
Copper-wire Daisy Podolepis linearifolia
Fragrant Saltbush Rhagodia parabolica
Woolly New Holland Daisy Vittadinia gracilis
What/who will benefit?
The plants chosen will specifically target the needs of 16 threatened species. These include birds, mammals, reptiles and insects that are…
Critically Endangered:
Barking Owl, Black Falcon, Swift Parrot
Endangered:
Speckled Warbler, Tussock Skink, Glossy Grass Skink, Fiery Jewel Butterfly & Large Ant-blue butterfly.
Vulnerable:
Koala*, Brush-tailed Phascogale, Grey-headed Flying-fox, Diamond Firetail, Brown Treecreeper, Little Eagle, Jacky Winter and Powerful Owl.
We plant a wide diversity of species, genera and families of native trees, shrubs and wildflowers, to create a flourishing ecosystem. We don’t plant only quick-growing trees for carbon capture – as these are rarely useful to koalas in the long term, and we don’t plant masses of overused, widespread species, like Kangaroo Thorn/Hedge Wattle Acacia paradoxa as these can be harmful to Diamond Firetails. Our plantings typically include 30 to 40 species, carefully chosen to suit the site.
We also plant an endangered tree species: Melbourne Yellow Gum Eucalyptus leucoxylon connata. We plant many of these, and are very careful to only plant this subspecies from local provenance seed in the area it naturally occurs.
Already, on some of our earlier plantings, landowners have been approached by government authorities about releasing koalas onto the sites. This project would be very suitable for this in 3-5 years.
What’s exciting about this:
The sympathetic custodian landowners have partnered with us to plant trees since 2016, and seen new bird species colonise their farm as a result. They have agreed to exclude this paddock from grazing permanently, in order to improve their land for biodiversity. If it works – if the plantings suppress weeds, encourage koalas and self-manage – other farmers in the district may consider restoring their low productivity paddocks in this way.
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Opportunities are available to become involved with this project as a funding partner or volunteer. Contact president@koalaclancyfoundation.org.au to discuss funding partnerships.
Thanks to the following organisations who have donated generously to make this project happen:
City of Greater Geelong through its ‘Environment Sustainability Grant Program’ https://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/
International Fund for Animal Welfare IFAW https://www.ifaw.org/au
PAST PLANTINGS AT THIS SITE:
2021 Planting:
Number of trees/shrubs: 365
Size of planting site: 0.3 hectares
Total Project Cost: $3650 funded by Melbourne Water and Koala Clancy Foundation donors.
Progress Report: This planting was infill into a previously-planted, heavily eroded streamside. We changed our approach, planting a lot of saltbush and salt-tolerant, hardy groundcovers.
2020 Planting:
Number of trees/shrubs: 308
Size of planting site: 1.05 hectares
Total Project Cost: $3080 funded by Melbourne Water and Koala Clancy Foundation donors.
Progress Report: This planting was the first infill on the eroded creek edge. After 3 years we could see what had worked and what hadn’t. In future we would recommend spreading topsoil before planting a site this badly damaged.
2019 Planting:
Number of trees/shrubs: 500
Size of planting site: 0.406 hectares
Total Project Cost: $5000 funded by Melbourne Water and Koala Clancy Foundation donors.
Progress Report: Survival in this part of the creek has been very high, and growth too, but here topsoil was present and in good condition.
2018 Planting:
Number of trees/shrubs: 800
Size of planting site: 0.629 hectares
Total Project Cost: $8000 funded by Melbourne Water and Koala Clancy Foundation donors.
Progress Report: Terrific growth of Acacias & Eucalypts along the banks of the creek where topsoil had not been eroded.
2017 Planting:
Number of trees/shrubs: 600
Size of planting site: 1.2 hectares
Total Project Cost: $6000 funded by Melbourne Water and Koala Clancy Foundation donors.
Progress Report: We are pleased with the results of this early planting, though survival is quite mixed. Eroded, bare patches still exist in the creek bed, but the banks are growing well. To structurally transform flat, windswept pasture-grass farmland into an ecosystem with layers is a huge achievement.
2016 Planting:
Number of trees/shrubs: 100
Size of planting site: 0.3 hectares
Total Project Cost: $1000 funded by Melbourne Water and Koala Clancy Foundation donors.
Progress Report: One of our first-ever plantings, this site was infill on a previously-planted corridor.
