Long Swamp Restoration Trial update, and a tribute to the late Leila Huebner OAM

Thanks to the tremendous support of so many wonderful people and organisations with an interest in Long Swamp (Discovery Bay Coastal Park) over the past six years, we’ve now reached the stage where we can finally share everything we have learned about the site. Although some of this information has found its way into the blogs over that time, most hasn’t – so this is your chance to read the full story, consolidated in one place, for the first time!

Reconstructing the early eco-hydrological history of the site (an essential part of the restoration story in this instance) provided a fantastic, complex case study in historical geography. As well as this in depth review of site history, the report covers all the relevant information about the restoration trial and summarises NGT’s monitoring program to evaluate the trial’s success.

To access the report, you have three choices (click the hyperlinks for the first two options):

1. Read the web pdf version on your computer (this version has the landscape pages rotated – click link left or on report cover image below)
2. Download and print the pdf version yourself (but beware, this report is over 200 pages long!)
3. Contact the NGT regional office in Mt Gambier (08 8797 8596, or email us at ) to purchase a published hard copy for $33 (including GST).

As you’ll see in the report, we’re now recommending that the trial structure be permanently consolidated (as part of a reformed sand dune) at some stage in the future. To help us reach that goal when a suitable funding opportunity arises, NGT’s Tessa Roberts is now working on the next stages of the project, undertaking the consultation, detailed design work and planning required to get the necessary permit approvals in place.

In addition to the report, to give you a sense of what has been achieved so far through this project, here is a short video about Long Swamp produced by the Glenelg Hopkins CMA:

Among the many people who have contributed to or supported this project over the past six years (too many to name here), I’d like to make a special mention of the late Leila Huebner OAM of Nelson, who very sadly passed away last month. Leila first approached NGT in 2012 on behalf of the Nelson Coastcare Group (of which she was a founding member) asking for our assistance with answering local community questions about water management and the ecology of the site, eventually leading to the restoration trial which commenced in 2014.  Despite her lengthy battle with poor health, Leila maintained an active interest in Long Swamp – even helping to review a final draft of the evaluation report as recently as January this year. For those of us that knew Leila and what she cared deeply about, it has been a sad time, as we have lost one of those rare, observant field naturalists who had an insatiable thirst for knowledge and then selflessly shared that experience for community and environmental benefit. Vale Leila.

Here is a nice little video the Glenelg Hopkins CMA put together to recognise Leila’s OAM last year:

Nature Glenelg Trust gratefully acknowledges the Glenelg Hopkins CMA and the Victorian Government for supporting the current phase of the Long Swamp restoration project.