Protection and restoration at Red Gum Reserve

BATESFORD’S fourteen-and-a-half-acre Red Gum Reserve is becoming passive recreation space, home to native flora and fauna thanks to the work of dedicated community members.

Batesford Fyansford Stonehaven Landcare secretary Felicity Spear said her volunteer group’s role is to protect, manage and restore the space.

They recently received a Golden Plains Shire Strengthening Community Grant for just over $2000 to continue enhancing the Reserve’s biodiversity.

“With help from the grant, work will proceed in the eastern end near the bridge at Dog Rocks Road,” she said.

“That’s an area that needs to be tended to, taking out non-indigenous, European trees that are suckering there and blocking up the waterway, Primrose Creek, which leads down to the Moorabool.

“We’ll have those trees taken out, the whole area cleaned up, and we’ll plant indigenous trees like gold-dust wattle, lightwoods, black wattle, drooping she-oaks, silver banksias, sweet Bursaria, river bottlebrush, common correa, spiny-headed mat-rush, narrow-leaf hop bush, river red gums, hemp bushes, woolly tea trees, tree violets and snowy mint bushes.”

Red Gum Reserve is divided by Blackall Road. BFS Landcare is also improving the west end of the green space.

Geelong’s Covenant College will assist the Landcare group to action the works as school project.

“We’ve had several National Tree Days on both ends, seeing kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas and quite a rich variety of birds in there,” Ms Spear said.

“We’re definitely building habitat and diversity, but it’s in an area where developers are buying land and building properties. That’s a sensitive issue.

“It’s not a long walk, taking five or 10 minutes, but it can link up to the Moorabool River Reserve walk, and we’re hoping one day when the Riverstone Estate is complete that we’ll be able to extend that through there.”

Red Gum Reserve is a space to be enjoyed respectfully on-foot, not on bikes, so wildlife is protected. Dogs must be on leads. Visit bfslandcare.org.