2025 CMA Revegetation Project Continues

The Mallee CMA has continued to work with the landholders to improve the connectivity and extent of Malleefowl habitat by planting native trees and shrubs. This will allow Malleefowl to move between the remnant vegetation on their property and Hattah-Kulkyne National Park, increasing the viability and future resilience of Malleefowl populations in our region.

Revegetation in the hot and dry conditions of the Mallee is a challenging task and ongoing maintenance of the sites has been undertaken to optimise success. Seedlings receive follow-up watering and are managed to reduce threats from introduced herbivores.

The plants are beginning to establish themselves, with some of the original plantings reaching more than a metre high. As the trees start to grow above the native grasses it is not hard to imagine that these areas of revegetation will provide habitat for Malleefowl in the future.

July 2024 Soil project

A phD student from Federation University has recently completed a study of soils on Lot 1 of the block in an area which has previously been cropped. Three soil samples were taken at three plots and sent for analysis.

Overall, the plots had a sand-loamy texture with relatively low nutrients, as to be expected from the Mallee, probably a light-textured calcarosol soil and possibly a tenosol.

The salinity measurement used in this analysis (Conductivity) did not find high salinity levels. The sample was taken only from the top soil however and its possible that the subsoil could be saltier.

December 2023 CMA Revegetation Project

Biodiverse plantings were undertaken over 55ha hectares of previously cleared land between 2020 and 2023. To restore the ecosystems a mixture of shrubs and trees were planted via direct seeding and tubestock planting. In total 67.5km of direct seeding was sown made up of 20kg of native seed. The direct seeding primarily focused on trees and shrubs that readily grow from seed, these included Murray pines (Callitris verrucosa), Wattles (Acacia species), Senna artemisioidies and Mallee (Eucalyptus species). In addition to direct seeding 6,500 native seedlings were planted, with the primary focus on restoring overstory trees – the majority of tubestock planted were Mallee trees (Eucalyptus species), with other important species of the ecosystems also planted, including; Sugarwood (Myoporum platycarpum), Moonah (Melaleuca lanceolate), Mallee Teatree (Leptospermum coriaceum).

January 2022

A long-eared bat which was trapped in one of our sheds. Happily, it was able to fly away.