Plan to guide future of Smythesdale land

MEMBERS of the Friends of Woady Landcare Group have celebrated the completion of their ten-year Land Management Plan document.

The work was completed by local environmental consultant Ray Draper and helpers over the last six months with a grant from Landcare Victoria.

The former Dales Landcare group, the Smythesdale Progress Association and community volunteers have been working on the site, along the Woady Yaloak River in Smythesdale, for more than 20 years.

“There’s been a group of committed local people working on an area of the Woady Yaloak Creek between Snake Valley Road and Whites Road in Smythesdale for over 20 years,” said Friends of Woady Landcare Group president, Bill MacNeill.

“We felt it was really important to have a management plan that would guide our work into the future and give us a framework of what we were doing.”

The document will guide future replanting in the area and details flora and fauna and threats to the environment.

“What the plan now gives us is a 10-year framework about what we do there, what we clear, what we replant more importantly, and providing an amazing assessment of the remanent native flora and fauna in the area,” said Mr MacNeill.

“It really makes it very clear what areas of the river we should be planting more trees in, what areas we shouldn’t be planting trees in, and we should be leaving or reintroducing native grasses and shrubs, and the role that that planting work has in trying to supress the introduced weeds.”

Mr Draper’s work uncovered two endangered frog species and one vulnerable frog species in the area.

Mr MacNeill said the goal is to eventually return the land to a self-sufficient state.

“We want to eventually try and recreate an environment that doesn’t need constant maintenance, it returns to some sort of natural condition,” said Mr MacNeill.

“Maintaining an open space area is not something a community group can really commit itself to long term because people come and go.”

The group is always looking for new members and interested parties can contact Mr MacNeill on 0409 145 267.