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Introduction

Fleur Stelling, North East Community Seedbank Coordinator
Gill Earl Charles Sturt University
Kylie Kent Charles Sturt University

The fundamental importance of native vegetation in maintaining and improving the health of our biodiversity – the ecosystems, the species, their habitats, the gene pools and the ecological processes providing the vital ‘life support’ systems that we depend on – is well recognised. Native vegetation helps in so many ways – it holds precious topsoil in place, filters runoff, reduces groundwater recharge, sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, and provides habitat for wildlife that can provide relief from the effects of insect pests.

The forests and woodlands, mallee, shrublands, grasslands and floodplains in the Riverina have been extensively altered through clearing for agriculture. The remaining native vegetation in these areas is generally declining because of grazing, weed invasion, rising watertables and other pressures. Without active management tailored to protect the region’s native vegetation, and enhance and extend it through revegetation, it faces a bleak future of continued decline.

The region’s grazed vegetation requires active management. This management will maximise feed and maintain native vegetation on farms. To achieve this an understanding of vegetation and the principles of grazing management are required.

There are, however, examples of healthy remnant vegetation throughout the region. These remnants are invaluable as examples of local biodiversity – they give us clues as to how we can go about revegetating, and seeds to carry out this work. These remnants hint at what the Riverina Bio-region was like when Aboriginal communities stewarded the landscape, and what the European settlers first experienced. By preserving and extending these areas, we keep alive part of this heritage.

The Riverina’s remnant vegetation, much of which is found on private land, is also vital to the future health of our farming landscapes. Without a secure foundation of biodiversity, provided by healthy remnant vegetation, the natural checks and balances necessary for sustainable agriculture will cease to function.

The region’s remnant vegetation requires protecting, and the time for action is now. Fencing to manage grazing is one such action, which will contribute much to ensuring a future for this remnant vegetation. It will allow natural regeneration and strategic revegetation. Such activity requires knowledge of how to build on remnant vegetation in a way that enhances local biodiversity and farm productivity.

Planting the right plants into bushland on farms is important. Local plants are adapted to local conditions. They offer the best prospect for survival under the local climate and soils, and are more likely to attract local wildlife.

About the Guide

This Guide provides practical information about biodiversity in the Riverina, how to manage remnant vegetation, which locally native trees, shrubs and ground covers to plant in each district, and how to go about re–planting.

The Guide covers a wide area, extending north of the Murray River, west to Balranald, east to Narrandera and north through Carrathool Shire. A map illustrating the area covered by the Guide follows.

The Guide comprises three sections.

Part One consists of chapters on a variety of topics including information about the types of native vegetation, processes that threaten native plants and animals, and recommendations for management. Approaches to vegetation establishment are covered, as are weed management and environmental weeds and local native seed collection and propagation. This section also contains information on the status of native vegetation in the region, means of assessing catchment health, principles for vegetation and property planning, principles and ideas for managing grasslands, wetlands, grazing, wildlife and their habitat, and the restoring of degraded landscapes. The chapters were written by a range of authors with particular expertise in each topic. Unless otherwise indicated, the editors compiled or wrote the remaining information in the Guide.

Part Two contains maps of geographic areas within the region with corresponding local native vegetation profiles. The vegetation profiles show typical profiles or cross sections that should enable the reader to identify the land system and vegetation types on which their property lies. The profiles have been drawn as generalised pictures of the landscape, based on landform type (eg. sandplains, swales and dune crest).

The locally native plant species that occur in the different parts of the landscape are listed in the appropriate section. It is possible to cross–reference the profiles with the Draft Western Riverina Regional Vegetation Management Plan, which is available from the Department of Land and Water Conservation.

The species lists in the general vegetation profiles are derived from the following sources.

Constructive comments from a range of local plant experts were received and used in compiling final drafts of the vegetation profiles.

Part Three comprises detailed information on over 320 locally native species that occur in the area covered by the Guide. Comprehensive information is provided for the area’s trees, shrubs and ground covers, particularly those indicative of healthy rangeland vegetation. Part Three was compiled by collating information from a wide range of sources (see bibliography). Again, comments from local plant experts were incorporated to add valuable local experience and knowledge of region’s conditions.