🌿 Rainforest Revivalists were astonished to witness a giant Regent Bowerbird (Sericulus chrysocephalus) checking out the new rainforest planted at Oakhampton last Saturday. The bird (male) was in full, regal plumage and good health. He also seemed pleased with the giant bower they constructed to celebrate the day. Thirty volunteers helped plant over 400 Lower Hunter Rainforest tubestock in a best practice design for rainforest revegetation. Volunteers came from all over the Hunter – including Newcastle, Dungog and Singleton as well as locals from Maitland and surrounds. It was a fantastic effort from everyone involved, thank you.
The planting layout included an inner and outer windbreak design, edge-tolerant species and then those requiring more shelter were placed in the inner rings. The shapes of the trees and shrubs when mature and their moisture, light and humidity requirements were all taken into account in the design. “It’s going to be exciting to see this baby rainforest develop over the next five years and beyond,” said Stacy Mail, Lower Hunter Landcare Coordinator and Project Lead. The new baby rainforest includes Illawarra Flame Trees, Red Kamala, Koda, Brush Cherry and Bauerella all funded by “15Trees“. A big shout-out to the Kooragang Bush Regeneration Volunteers who helped to prepare the planting holes in the lead-up to the day.
Peter Wilson, Project Revegetation Lead explained that the Maitland Rainforest of the past was a temperate place where Wanaruah people took shelter during the winter. It provided protection from the wind and cold and contained rich resources of bush foods and medicines. Early colonial descriptions from Europeans describe the forest as dense and full of vines, hence the term they coined: “scrub”. Dry Rainforest has been almost completely cleared over the last 200 years in the Maitland area. The main threats to the remnant pockets are further clearing, fragmentation and the fact that these patches are small in size, which could limit genetic diversity and the successful recruitment of new plants.
Remnant Lower Hunter Valley Dry Rainforest was listed as Vulnerable Ecological Community in NSW in 2008. For the listing profile see Lower Hunter Valley Dry Rainforest in the Sydney Basin and NSW North Coast Bioregions – profile | NSW Environment, Energy and Science. It mainly occurs on steeper, south-facing gullies in the Barrington foot-slopes along the northern rim of the Hunter Valley Floor. It has also been recorded from the local government areas of Cessnock, Maitland and Port Stephens, and is also likely to occur or have occurred in Muswellbrook, Singleton, Upper Hunter and Dungog LGAs. You can get to know the features of this habitat and recognise it in the bush by joining the project newsletter: Hunter Rainforest Revival Project – Hunter Region Landcare Network.
Hunter Rainforest Revival is a five-year community-based project dedicated to restoring interconnected patches to link up remaining older remnants of Dry Rainforest. The goal is to establish a biodiversity corridor for the flora and fauna of this threatened ecological community. We are also upskilling people from across the community in the knowledge, methods and confidence to recognise, regenerate and revegetate rainforest.
The project is supported by a grant from the NSW Government’s Environmental Trust and is made possible by the NSW Landcare Enabling Program. Hunter Region Landcare Network is partnering with interested landholders, Landcare teams, community groups, Hunter Local Land Services and Maitland Council to run the project. Keep in the loop by liking the project Facebook Page: HRR Facebook page.