Restoration and connection for habitat

FIVE hectares of Woowookarung Regional Park will be revegetated by Parks Victoria and volunteers as the nature reserve continues to recover from its previous life as a plantation.

Five hundred natives trees and shrubs will be planted in the block adjacent to Katy Ryans Road later in the year.

Friends of the Canadian Corridor’s Jeff Rootes said the latest initiative of “target planting” is another step in the “long journey” of park habitat restoration.

“We’re connecting habitat areas up. This is part of the koala corridor. We’re trying to pick up on birdlife and other animals in the area as well,” he said.

“There’s a special swamp in the vegetation area which will have Yarra gums and swamp gums put into it, and the normal run of wattles, prickly Moses and stringy barks will be planted everywhere else.

“We want to plant stuff that should be there, but may not occur naturally. Originally there would have been Yarra gums and swamp gums in there, but the goldmining time took them away.”

Twenty FOCC volunteers attended a working bee last week to remove stakes and tree guards from the park.

Two years ago, these were used by volunteers to plant 1100 native trees as part of a similar project. They will be reused in the new revegetation area adjacent to Katy Ryans Road.

Eight-year-old Thomas Aitken volunteered on Sunday with his parents to recycle these materials. He had used them two years ago while part of the original planting working bee.

Thomas’ mum, Clare Aitken said their family is passionate about conservation.

“We want to regenerate the forest as much as possible. It’s important for the younger generation to be involved and to understand,” she said.

“We enjoy coming to the park and using it as well. My husband Andrew, and Thomas, use the mountain bike trails, and we love seeing the native animals and birds.”

Mr Rootes said Woowookarung is Ballarat’s “recreational outlet,” for walking, cycling and nature appreciation, so any improvements not only make it a better place for wildlife to live, but for the city’s residents to explore.