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Rainforest Tree Planting (Jetty Road) Kalimna, 19^th October

Endangered Rainforest had a much needed lift!

An endangered rainforest received some much needed attention over the weekend.  Members of the East Gippsland Rainforest Conservation Management Network (EGRCMN) and the Colquhoun/North Arm Landcare Group joined forces to plant understorey seedlings at a site alongside Kalimna Jetty Road, near Lakes Entrance on Sunday morning.

The very neglected site faces an onslaught of threats in its daily life.  Serious weed invasions have dominated the site for years denying many seedlings the opportunity to grow, while stormwater sporadically gushes through the gully eroding the forest floor.  Other serious threats are from people digging for worms (for bait) or dumping garden waste and other rubbish.

“I don’t think people realise how significant the site is,” East Gippsland Rainforest CMN committee member Rebecca Lamble said.  “During the morning we saw an echidna busily foraging, watched a juvenile wedged tail eagle and heard the calls of many forest birds like Whip Birds and Eastern Yellow Robins.”

The seedlings were planted in a gully to the north of Jetty Road in Kalimna, which contains special Warm Temperate Rainforest listed as “endangered” under State legislation.  Warm temperate rainforest is characterised by species such as Lilly-pilly, Sweet Pittosporum, Muttonwood, Yellowwood and Blue Oliveberry.  The rainforest creates a shady canopy where only shade tolerant plants such as ferns, mosses and lichens can grow successfully.  A project earlier in the year successfully removed many of the pest plants smothering the forest and provided field experience for the Lake Tyers Indigenous Work Crew.  The workers undertook field experience for their natural resource management certificate qualifications at Forestech, and their work contributed significantly towards the long term improvement and biodiversity of this area.

The aim of the weekend was to plant 400 seedlings of groundcovers along the gully floor aimed to slow down erosion caused by storm water, and reduce the amount of nutrients and sediments entering the Gippsland Lakes.  Paul Harvey, a student enrolled in the Conservation and Land Management course at Forestech will undertake a management plan for the site.

Oliver Lambert (2 years) was helped by his uncle Paul Harvey (a Forestech student) to plant some seedlings on the rainforest floor	Lambert (left) and Alex Harvey 4 years (right) help to plant some seedlings