Long Swamp Fish Survey and Wetland Restoration Site Visits Underway
While the wild weather has been less than ideal for field work, NGT has been out and about in the region this week. Once you get warm and moving, it can actually be quite envigorating to be out in a wetland in the rain!
Nick and Lauren have been sampling sites across Long Swamp as part of our work to help understand the ecology of this important wetland system. The early results Nick has phoned in, include records of a couple of nationally threatened fish, but I will leave Nick to give an overview of his results in a Blog next week. The survey will be finishing up this Saturday.
Meanwhile, Lachlan and I have spent the last couple of days meeting the first batch of landowners that have expressed an interest in the Wetland Restoration Program on Private Land. We visited four very different sites across the South West, but they all have excellent restoration potential. We have also been very impressed by the landowners, especially their intimate knowledge of site history and their interest in discussing future management options that will result in an improvement in wetland condition. At one site, we even had the unusual privilege of seeing an Australasian Bittern, pair of Brolgas and a koala, within a 15-20 minute period! Thanks to these first group of landholders for hosting us on your properties, and for being part of getting the program officially underway.
We are really looking forward to continuing to get to know fantastic people like this right across the region, throughout the life of the wetland restoration program. In time, we hope to be able to share some of their stories with you too.
A wetland impacted by drainage we visited this week, where the owner is interested in discussing options for restoration
