Wetlands, Woodlands and Red-Tail Black Cockatoos
Over the past two years we have been working with Glenelg Hopkins CMA and the South-eastern Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo Recovery Team to deliver benefits for wetland and woodland habitat across the Wilkin landscape, in south west Victoria. This project has seen the management and restoration of 100 hectares of wetland area and 1,000 hectares of woodlands through a combination of hydrological restoration works, pine wildling control and habitat evaluation. Works have been delivered on both public and private land – which illustrates the type of cross-tenure approach required to achieve landscape-scale restoration outcomes.
The project was celebrated late last year with a field-day and showcased some of the great achievements. It was about as good as it gets for showcasing a project with a Brolga pair and their chick being spotted at one of the restored wetlands, followed by lunch with some Red-tailed Black Cockatoos at Mill Swamp, near Casterton.
As part of our wetland monitoring we’ve also uncovered some healthy populations of Little Galaxias (Galaxiella toourtkoourt) and Western Swamp Crayfish (Gramastacus insolitus). Whilst the official project is wrapping up, we’ll be sure to keep checking in on these sites and documenting their recovery.
Below is a series of snapshots that illustrate the timeline of inundation (also note floristic changes) following wetland restoration works.
Timeline of inundation following restoration works
This work has been funded through the Victorian Government’s Regional Biodiversity Hub initiative.
