Conservation: Wetlands at the Australian Botanic Gardens Shepparton.
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World Wetlands Day is celebrated on February 2 every year. This coincides locally with a focus on the wetlands at one of the region’s fantastic tourist attractions and busiest areas of community outdoor use, the Australian Botanic Gardens Shepparton.
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This area is appreciated by the community and visitors as a great place not only to see the gardens but also to exercise, relax, enjoy the views and wildlife, and for children to play, all with a view of the wetlands.
Conservation and stewardship are critical for wetland health and are interconnected with human wellbeing. Having a diversity-rich, resilient landscape containing wildlife habitat and freshwater sources provides multiple benefits to the environment and the community that visits it. Connecting people to nature contributes to the health and mental wellbeing of residents and visitors, and provides a beautiful area for recreational use.
In light of this, the Shepparton Mooroopna Urban Landcare Group has developed a project named Wasteland to Wetlands to be undertaken this year. SMULG has volunteered many hours of work in the bushland area, mainly to remove weeds brought in by the floods, together with volunteers from Friends of ABGS and staff from Greater Shepparton City Council.
Previously, the group has installed nest boxes, undertaken clean-up days, and conducted activities in partnership with Friends of ABGS and RiverConnect.
What we now call the wetlands at the gardens were large, degraded borrow pits formed when the soil was removed to provide the capping of the mound that covered the obsolete rubbish tip.
The new project aims to rehabilitate the most easterly borrow pit into a thriving, vibrant, healthy wetland with high habitat and biodiversity value. This will be done with revegetation of the pits with a wider variety of semi-aquatic and other plants that will withstand inundation, resulting in improved vegetation cover, reduction of erosion and evaporation, improved habitat and shelter for a variety of species, including birds, insects and aquatic life.
It is highly significant to the continuing development of the gardens. This entire wetland and its changing landscape, in flood, dry and average conditions, can be viewed from the top of Honeysuckle Rise.
The project is supported by the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, with funding from Victorian Government Landcare grants.
The Landcare group project is also supported by council, Goulburn Murray Landcare Network, Friends of the ABGS, RiverConnect and Birdlife Murray Goulburn.
All involved parties wish to engage people in appreciating how the conservation of our local bushland and wetland is so beneficial to us all.
Join the Shepparton Mooroopna Urban Landcare Group Facebook page for future news about its project.
Serene setting: A walker enjoys the Australian Botanic Gardens Shepparton wetlands.
