Regeneration | Forest Farm

Vegetation restoration at Forest Farm

Here at Forest Farm, we are blessed with some beautiful natural areas including remnant rainforest, Sclerophyll and wetland vegetation communities.

This land never ceases to amaze us with the treasures it holds and the many native plant and animal species it supports.

This sense of amazement and wonder forms the basis of our dedication and drive to support the land in as many ways we can through habitat restoration and regeneration.

As is the case for the vast majority of the northern rivers region, this land has seen some intensive agricultural use and cattle grazing since european settlement, as a result there are some large areas of significant degradation.

We put a huge amount of effort into bush and vegetation restoration here and we're passionate and proud of our results. Our goal is to restore the majority of the degraded land on the property back to native vegetation where both flora and fauna and not just survive but hopefully thrive.

We use industry best practice methods to control environmental weeds that pose a direct threat to biodiversity.

The existing remnant forest areas on this property and adjoining land provides a great seed source and as a result the land displays excellent resilience and potential for natural regeneration. For this reason, we focus primarily on assisted regeneration methods, essentially allowing mother nature to grow the trees she wants courtesy of the birds, and we just help by controlling the weeds.

On occasions however we tackle areas that are seriously degraded so tree plantings become an essential component of the restoration process.

Assisted regeneration

There are approximately 35 hectares (85acres) of Forest Farm covered by remnant vegetation including rainforest, sclerophyll and wetland vegetation communities.

There is also the remains of a joint forestry timber plantation on the property which covers large parts of the property with varying density and canopy cover. This plantation was not diverse and consisted of two eucalyptus species Flooded Gum (E. robusta) and Blackbutt (E. pilularis) and Hoop Pine (Araucaria cunninghamii).

This plantation was thinned in 2012, quite significantly in some areas and less so in others, leaving only 20% canopy cover in the areas heavily thinned with 90-100% canopy cover remaining in the places left untouched.

The ground layer and understory of these remaining plantation areas is where we are seeing the bulk of the natural regeneration. It is really amazing how many native species are germinating and growing under these trees. Unfortunately along with the natives we get large amounts of weeds as well.

We are seeing great results from weed control activities in these areas, and as the weeds are removed and no longer competing for light, nutrients and moisture, the natives gratefully thrive.

One of our crew, Ben is a professional bush regenerator so we proudly use industry best practice techniques to control weeds and stay up to date with the latest information in weed control and bush regeneration.

The standard mix of weeds found across the majority of the northern rivers are present here at Forest Farm.

Woody weeds. (Camphor, lantana, Privet, etc.)
Annual weeds. (Crofton weed, cotton bush, etc.)
Climbers. (Madeira vine, Ipomoea)
Exotic grasses. (Paspalum, Rhodes, Setaria, etc.)

Weed control methods we use here at Forest Farm consist of:

Hand Pull:

We like to hand pull weeds wherever we can and wherever it is practical.

Stem injection:

A very common method of removing larger woody weeds. This method involves drilling a series of holes around the base of the trunk and inject a herbicide/water mix into the holes.

Cut, Scrape and Paint:

We use this method for small woody weeds, approximately 4-5cm or smaller in diameter. This method involves cutting the trunk cleanly off as close to ground level as possible, scraping the remaining bark on the stump and quickly applying a small amount of herbicide/water mix to the exposed cambium layer and cut stump.

Foliar Spray:

This method requires a spray application of herbicide to the foliage of a plant.

Chemical herbicides.

The topic of chemical herbicides is a contentious issue. Particularly when discussing Glyphosate which is the active ingredient in the majority of herbicides used in the control of environmental weeds, both in bush regeneration activities but also the cropping and agricultural sector across the country and in fact the world!

Many people have passionate views on the use and distribution of these chemicals in todays society.

Here at Forest Farm we are not afraid to say that during our bush regeneration activities we do at times use chemical herbicides.

The use of herbicides allows us to achieve excellent environmental outcomes on a fairly large scale in what the bush regeneration industry would consider an acceptable timeframe.

Ben has a chemical applicators certificate and is well trained in the safe and appropriate use of herbicides in a bush regeneration situation.

The Australian Association of Bush Regenerators has a published statement regarding the use of herbicides in relation to bush regeneration activities, it can be found here.

There is also an interesting report written by Tim Lowe for the Australian Invasive Species Council outlining his discoveries when researching the sensitive topic of Glyphosate in response to a continued call for a ban on it's sale and use here in Australia. You can read his report here.

Habitat Action Grant with OzFish

Restoring Wetland and Riparian Vegetation on High Conservation Value Property to Improve Diverse Fish Habitat in Emigrant Creek

With the assistance of the amazing team at OzFish Unlimited Ballina, we were fortunate enough to secure a Department of Primary Industries Habitat Action Grant in late 2019, with the on-ground work commencing April 2020.

The site for this grant covers approximately 5ha and includes approximately 800m of Emigrant creek riparian zone.

Also within the site is a beautiful melaleuca wetland area which was heavily degraded with unrestricted cattle access.

Goal: Restore wetland and riparian vegetation along Emigrant Creek

Objective 1:

Exclude cattle access from creek and grant area

The first step in the project was to exclude cattle access which was done with the installation of an electric fence. This had an immediate effect and watching the wetland area in particular recover rapidly once the grazing pressure from the cattle was removed was an exciting process!

The riparian zone had immediate positive results also with the rapid return of the riparian grasses, reeds and sedges that the cattle had been eating and squashing for many years.

Habitat Action Grant - The End Result

Removing cattle.

This had an immediate effect and watching the wetland area in particular recover rapidly once the grazing pressure from the cattle was removed was an exciting process!

Weed control and plant prep

We chose our friends at Bushland Restoration Services to undertake this work. Their years of experience and amazing knowledge were a great asset for the project.

Planting

With the aid of a group of wonderful OzFish volunteers and BRS, 4000 trees were planted providing diversity in the environment and aid to the wetland area.

The end result is an amazing wetland area that is thriving with native grasses and many more melaleucas naturally regenerating.

Ongoing work required ...

Struggling with ipanema in parts after the 2022 floods

Bangalow Koalas

Bangalow Koalas' aim is to create Koala corridors in the northern rivers of NSW.

Two projects have been funded on Forest Farm, the aims of which were to create diverse koala habitat.

Objectives:

1. Treat weeds along creek banks,

2. Prepare and plant 9,000 koala and other native species trees. 9,000 trees were planted in project 1 (commenced ???) and ??? planted in project 2.

3. Maintain the grant area 11 times over 3 years – Year 1 and 2 funded by WWF, year 3 and fencing in-kind by Landholder.

It is with great pride and excitement that we are working together with Bangalow Koalas to make sure our vegetation restoration efforts are of great benefit for the struggling local koala populations as well as other wildlife. We do this by ensuring that the plantings we undertake include the primary food and habitat trees which the Koalas need to call a place home.

We have seen koalas on the property on a few occasions over the last couple of years and have heard reports that some of our neighbors have seen koalas both on our property and on adjoining properties.

Bangalow Koalas are amazing at getting trees planted using both contractors and community tree planting days.

So far with Bangalow Koalas, we have collaborated on three separate sites on the property totaling close to 14Ha. These sites have been previously be used as grazing paddocks and were dominated by exotic pasture grasses. These sites have now been planted with approximately 12500 trees.

Marine Estate Management Strategy

Project on-ground start - November 2019

We thank Local Land Services North Coast for providing grant and on ground support for this project.

The focus of this project was two sections (approx 900m total) of Emigrant Creek riparian zone bordering Forest Farm.

Goal: prevent further erosion and sediment run off into the waterway by establishing appropriate native vegetation within the riparian zone.

The focus of this project was aimed specifically at two sections (approx. 900m total) of the Emigrant Creek riparian zone situated on our property. The main goal was to prevent further erosion and sediment run off into the waterway by establishing appropriate native vegetation within the riparian zone.

Objective 1:

Restriction of cattle from directly accessing the creek. Permanent fencing was erected in one section for permanent exclusion, while electric fencing in the other in order to enable progressive removal of cattle from the property.

Objective 2:

Treat all large woody weeks, particularly large camphor laurel and coral trees.

Objective 3:

Prepare, plant and maintain approximately 2000 trees, shrubs and grasses along the riparian zone.

Erect fencing to restrict the cattle from directly accessing the creek. This was done in both sections with the first being permanent fencing and the second section being electric fencing which means as we move towards our aim of phasing cattle off the property in coming years we can remove the electric fencing and there will be minimal remaining barriers for wildlife.

The second objective was to treat all large woody weeds, particularly large camphor laurels and coral trees in the two sections.

The third objective was to prepare, plant and maintain approximately 2000 trees, shrubs and grass species along the riparian zone.

The species of plants were chosen for their abilities to achieve the desired outcomes of preventing erosion and controlling sediment so a number of Lomandra and Carex species were included in the mix for the soil and creek bank holding capacity.

The results ...

Fencing worked a treat. A wetland area at "the point" has done particularly well just with exclusion of cattle.

Some success with woody weeds. Camphors are gone, however coral trees remain a problem. We note that following the floods of February/March 2022, ipanema has now become a particular weed of concern.

Trees have done very well in one section and not so well in the section towards the point, where the riparian zone is wetter. Learnings have been made in terms of plant selection in these areas.

Ongoing work required ...

Removal of coral trees
Weed control focus on ipanema

Conservation Volunteers

Habitat Action Grant

Project on-ground start - April 2020

We were fortunate enough to secure a Department of Primary Industries Habitat Action Grant in late 2019.

We couldn't have achieved this without the support of the amazing people at OZfish unlimited Ballina.

The site for this grant covers approximately 5ha and includes approximately 800m of Emigrant creek riparian zone.

Also with the site is an amazing melaleuca wetland area which was quite heavily degraded due to unrestricted cattle access.

The first step in the project was to exclude cattle access which we did with the installation of an electric fence, this had an immediate effect and watching the wetland area in particular recover rapidly once the grazing pressure from the cattle was removed was an exciting process!

The riparian zone had immediate positive results also with the rapid return of the riparian grasses, reeds and sedges that the cattle had been eating and squashing for years.

There was a contractor engaged for the weed control and site planting prep work and we chose our friends at Bushland Restoration Services to undertake this work. Their years of experience and amazing knowledge were a great asset for the project.

The plan was to plant 4000 trees for the grant, of which 1500 would be wetland species of Broad leaf paperbark (Melaleuca quinquenervia) and Swamp oak (Casuarina glauca) around the margins of the wetland with the remaining being a diverse mix of local rainforest species.

Riparian and