WHAT IS REVEGETATION?

Revegetation is planting native vegetation to restore ecosystems and suppress invasive weeds. It is a proactive approach to weed management, promoting biodiversity and stabilising disturbed landscapes.

WHY IS IT USEFUL? 

Without revegetation, disturbed areas are vulnerable to weed invasion, which can outcompete native plants, disrupt ecosystems, and increase fire risks. Weeds thrive in degraded environments, making revegetation a very useful strategy for long-term weed control.

CHARACTERISTICS 

Revegetation focuses on selecting native species suited to local conditions. These plants establish quickly, creating cover and shade that suppress weed growth. Revegetation also improves soil health, water retention, and habitat connectivity.

HOW TO APPLY IT ON YOUR PROPERTY

Revegetation for weed control is useful in areas subject to constant weed establishment and growth. Look for areas with sparse canopy, erosion issues, weed thickets or exposed soil. These are prime candidates for revegetation efforts. With a little effort and careful planning, native plants could be thriving in revegetated areas, while weeds are minimised.

HOW TO GET STARTED

• Project planning and costing: It is important to have a plan upfront and understand the duration, costs and materials required for your revegetation project. You may have to order plants well in advance to take advantage of the best planting conditions. Maintenance requirements can be very site specific so it’s best to consult with local experts at community and council revegetation nurseries to understand your local conditions.
• Site preparation: Control and remove existing weeds and prepare the soil for planting. This may take several rounds of weed control to reduce the seedbank of grasses and weeds.
• Species selection: Choose native plants adapted to local conditions and resistant to weed competition. Talk to your local revegetation nursery or contractor.
• Planting: Use a mix of species and growth forms to create a diverse ecosystem.
• Maintenance: Monitor growth, remove weeds, and ensure plants are healthy.

Riverside revegetation projects in the Wet Tropics are proving to be a win-win – they can solve rat problems for cane farmers while also stabilising river banks and improving the quality of water flowing to the Great Barrier Reef.

Growers and researchers have reported a 70 to 100 per cent reduction in rat numbers after tree planting initiatives on land between cane crops and waterways. And growers who are involved say crop damage from rats becomes largely a thing of the past.

Here are three examples:

Frank Gatti, Woopen Creek near Innisfail

A dramatic decrease in rats was a major benefit of cane farmers Frank and Stephen Gatti’s revegetation project. The Gattis revegetated 3.5 kilometres – a 30-40m strip between cane and creek – as part of a trial in partnership with the Bureau of Sugar Experimental Station and Queensland Parks and Wildlife 25 years ago.

The intention was to reduce rat numbers – and it worked.  After 12 months an 80 per cent reduction in the rat population was recorded.

“There was no grass for the rats anymore,’’ Frank said.  “We left some sections with grass initially for the trial.  As part of the trial, rats were captured in the grass areas but there was virtually nil capture of rats where we had revegetated. We have virtually eliminated them.”

Before the revegetation project, rats would usually decimate more than 20 metres of cane either side of a creek in the lead-up to harvesting season.

“We started with a bare creek bank and grass,’’ Frank said. “Now we’ve got full cover. The rats have been replaced by scrub hens and owls and the creek bank is more stable.”

The Gattis planted native trees and say the local varieties have proved themselves over time, with a strong showing from quondongs, Leichardt trees and river cherries. Redgums and mahoganies were destroyed by Cyclone Larry in 2006 whereas the endemic varieties shed limbs but survived.  The Gattis began with nursery supplies but later moved to propagating their own seedlings.

“We planted 1 to 2 metres apart with sacrificial trees in between like bleeding hearts – fast-growing pioneer plants that shade out the weeds, get their roots in the ground fast and make it easier for the other trees to grow.”

The rat numbers began declining once the grass was eliminated. Frank said it was important not to leave grass in between the plantings. He said the project was labour-intensive for the first few years but the benefits were well worth the effort. These days he makes sure there are no overhanging branches that would cause problems for harvesters and the rest of the revegetation site doesn’t need to be maintained.

“There were challenges along the way and there was a cost in creating the revegetation site, but the benefits have well outweighed that outlay. Some people worry that trees will shade the cane but you’ve got to weigh up is whether you’re prepared to put up with the rats or some shade. Once the rats chop into the cane it doesn’t grow anymore and you lose CCS.”

“I would recommend revegetation to other growers as a way to reduce rat problems.”

Lawrence Di Bella, Ingham

Ingham cane farmer Lawrence DiBella says 70 per cent of his rat problems ended after he revegetated land bordering the Herbert River.

“We used to lose 20 to 50 metres of cane every year on our riverbank country,’’ he said. “Over the years we have taken the guinea grass out by revegetating the riverbank area.  It keeps the grass species down and we don’t have the problem we had.”

The Lawrence family began their revegetation project in 1994 after visiting a trial revegetation site on Woopen Creek grower Frank Gatti’s land and hearing about his results.

They now have about 1.5 kilometres of riverbank land under trees, varying from 10 to 40m in thickness depending on the area.

Lawrence said he learnt by trial and error that endemic species were the best because they could withstand cyclones and flooding better than natives from outside the local area. His plantings feature Queensland maples, black bean trees and bleeding hearts. In the wetter areas, he has melaleucas and the Leichhardt tree.

Rainforest trees are the newest addition to beef producer David Andersen’s property, where a swag of changes is improving the land and productivity.

Two thousand trees were recently planted along stretches of streambank on the Malanda farm.

2000 trees planted to stabilise streambanks

“They’re in areas where cattle have been eroding the steep banks, some of them (banks) three to five metres high,’’ Dave says. “In big rain, the exposed topsoil just washes away.”

The Andersens have been working with natural resource management organisation Terrain NRM to reduce erosion by fencing off and revegetating waterways, as well as fine-tuning grazing management practices.

Smaller paddocks improving pastures

They began dividing paddocks when they first bought the land and, with help from Terrain NRM’s Upper Johnstone Integrated Project, they have recently created another three paddocks.

“By reducing the size of some of our larger paddocks, all of the paddock is more efficiently grazed down instead of just the sweet stuff,” David said.

Cattle rotation changes

“The cattle are then rotated around the farm allowing the tropical grasses and legumes a good recovery period. Whereas before there were big clumps of grass with underlying patches of dirt, the grass is now starting to spread and tighten up.”

Terrain’s Vanessa Drysdale said a combination of grazing management changes and tree-planting was chosen for the Andersen property as an effective solution to the erosion issues.

“On other properties there have been earthworks like Zuni bowls installed, which are then combined with revegetation work,’’ she said. “But we didn’t need the hard works on the Andersen property. Revegetation alone should do the trick for long-term repair on these streambanks. Tree root systems hold banks together and they slow water down in heavy rain events, reducing the chances of topsoil loss and of more erosion.”

The creation of a native fruit orchard, as part of the revegetation work, has been a bonus at the Andersen family’s property.

What a difference 18 months can make – that’s the feeling at Tash and John MacPherson’s cattle property where a swag of changes is rejuvenating the land and waterways.

The family is working with natural resource management organisation Terrain NRM on a property overhaul that includes earthworks, fencing, tree-planting, alternative water sources for cattle and a fresh perspective on grazing the land.

Tash Macpherson said the results were a win for cattle pastures and the overall environment.

“When we bought this property in mid-2020 we de-stocked it for a year,’’ she said. “The land really needed a break. There was bad erosion – big wash-outs along the waterways where the cattle had been, and springs that were a boggy mess.”

Through the project, three creeks have been fenced-off, smaller grazing paddocks have been created, 5000 native trees have been planted to strengthen creekbanks, and an off-stream watering system has been installed with a bore, water tanks and troughs.

Zuni bowl, fencing, tree-planting, off-stream watering solutions…

A Zuni bowl was also constructed to stop erosion advancing in one of the paddocks.

Terrain NRM’s Vanessa Drysdale said the bowl was a carefully designed lining of rocks at a steep drop in the gully erosion.

“This was an active gully system that had eroded several hundred metres in wet seasons over the last few years, and wasn’t going to slow down without intervention,’’ she said. “The traditional solution is a rock chute, but Zuni bowls are a more cost-effective treatment method that has proved its worth on Tableland and Daintree farms over the last few years.”

Saving sediment from reaching the reef

She said the combined work on the MacPherson property would save an estimated 180 tonnes of sediment from flowing to the Great Barrier Reef each year. It’s one of 11 properties where earthworks, tree-planting, fencing and off-stream watering infrastructure strategies have provided long-term solutions to erosion issues.

Hundreds of trees and native mat rushes have been planted along South Cedar Creek at Ravenshoe as part of a war against weeds.

Landholder Anne Evans said she felt like she and husband Ivan had won Lotto when they were approached about planting trees along a creek bank smothered in lantana and guinea grass.

“You couldn’t see the creek for the weeds a couple of months ago, so we brought in machinery to remove them,’’ she said. “Then we got a call from the council and what they were proposing fitted right in with what we were trying to achieve.”

More than 2000 trees and mat rushes have been planted along the creek bank as part of larger project that Terrain NRM and the Tablelands Regional Council are working on which began with weed removal and revegetation work in nearby council reserves bordering South Cedar Creek.

Terrain NRM’s Chelsy Maloney said the ‘Native Vegetation: Many Hands Make Light Work’ project, funded through the Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Investment Program, was improving the resilience of native vegetation in partnership with local councils.

She said weed removal was the focus for 10 hectares at Marshall Park Reserve, and revegetation work would benefit another two hectares along South Cedar Creek.

“At Marshall Park the canopy trees were there, but everything underneath the canopy was invaded by weeds. If we don’t stay on top of managing this area, it’ll lead to an irreversible change of the ecosystem.”

Tablelands Regional Council’s Cr Annette Haydon said the council was removing weeds and trialling the use of a different combination of species, to be planted in patches of the wet schlerophyll forest.

The goal was also to reduce the amount of seeds flowing downstream and causing weed infestations in other areas.

Creek banks and the community are benefitting from a project that will plant 33,000 trees in the Tully, Johnstone and Russell catchments by the end of the year.

The Johnstone River Catchment Management Association, Johnstone Region Landcare Group and Terrain NRM are working together to deliver the $520,000 project, funded through the Queensland Government’s $10 million Reef Assist program.

The benefits of the project extend beyond the on-ground revegetation work with fifteen local people also gaining training and employment through the project.

Mourilyan local Ashlea Hepburn sees the work as an opportunity to work on country and further her skills in environmental management, a field she would like to explore in tertiary studies.

“This job gives me a huge amount of satisfaction, because I know I’m making a difference and improving the health of the environment.”

“I’m interested in studying environmental management and psychology, so this job is allowing me to gain experience in land management and work with a range of community members to achieve outcomes for country,” Miss Hepburn said.

Youth and Traditional Owners are amongst the team of local people employed, with thirteen receiving classroom-based training in cultural awareness, riverine processes, species selection, weeds, and crocodile awareness.

Fay Falco-Mammone from the Johnstone River Landcare Group is leading the on-ground works for the project and believes the benefits of land restoration projects are far-reaching.

It’s more than a job to the people in our team, they’re involved in something that’s helping the environment and they’re learning a range of skills – in teamwork, problem-solving and resilience.”

“Working in wet and muddy conditions can be testing at times, but our crew are committed to getting the job done and gain satisfaction in knowing they’ve completed the task.”

Forget strolling trails and spotting platypus… Instead, picture bushland choked with weeds and a creek clogged with grasses – and you’ll have a good idea of what Yungaburra’s Lower Peterson Creek area looked like a little over two decades ago.

That was just before the Yungaburra Landcare Group formed.

“Locals were concerned about water quality. And the creek banks were an almost impenetrable mass of lantana and other rampant weeds,’’ the group’s current president David Blair says.

“The group secured funding from the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust and started linking patches of remnant rainforest from the road bridge at the town’s western entrance downstream for about two kilometres.”

That was the start of what can only be described as an outstanding success story. It was long before David’s time with the group but the transformation of Lower Peterson’s Creek into a popular tourist attraction and recreation area for locals has been well-documented. It has also led to multiple awards for Yungaburra Landcare, which was initially known as the Eastern Tinaroo Catchment Landcare Group.

David says members were inspired by larger-scale work further upstream through another local community group – TREAT. The Yungaburra group planned a staged revegetation project within the capacity of the small volunteer workforce, with an emphasis on expanding Mabi forest, an endangered plant community that is only found on the Atherton Tablelands.

The original revegetation project has now been completed – despite setbacks brought about by frosts, flooding and even drought-like conditions – and the forest has a flourising canopy. Rough paths once used for watering access are now well-worn walking tracks spanning 2.5km of creek frontage, and a platypus viewing platform, suspension bridge and picnic areas have been added.

David says one of the keys to the group’s success was “concentrating on getting it right the first time”.

“The main focus in the early days of each stage was the clean-up. Before each planting there were many hours of mechanical and chemical weed eradication followed by soil preparation and assembly of seedlings, mulch, fertiliser, irrigation and manpower for the actual planting day.”

“Most plantings were timed to coincide with wet season.

“Another big thing was this group’s unwavering commitment to follow-up maintenance. From the beginning, volunteers met each Friday morning to keep on top of the maintenance program, and we still meet on Fridays for mowing, weed clearing, track maintenance and the occasional fill-in plantings. Weeds are controlled by slashing, mowing and systematic spraying routines.”

Yellow-bellied gliders and native frogs are on the wish-list for a degraded creek reserve near Ravenshoe that is undergoing a transformation.

Terrain NRM and the Tablelands Regional Council have joined forces to restore land at South Cedar Creek by removing guinea grass and lantana, and planting hundreds of native trees.

More than 1000 trees went into the ground recently, after spraying and brush-cutting marked the start of a four-year restoration program.

Terrain NRM’s Tony O’Malley said seven hectares was being targeted as part of a bigger project “Native Vegetation: Many Hands Make Light Work” which is funded by Terrain through the Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Investment Program, to improve the resilience of big patches of native vegetation in partnership with local councils.

Tablelands Regional Council’s Kylie Freebody said the land was in Marshall Park reserve near the top of Tully Falls Rd, and the focus was on restoring wet sclerophyll forest.

“This country is really important for quite a few species that are listed as ‘vulnerable’, as well as three endangered eco-systems,’’ she said. “We’re looking to help species like the yellow-bellied glider, greater glider, magnificent brood frog, Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo and tapping green-eyed frog.

“This land is considered an important linkage for biodiversity conservation but over the years it has been taken over by invasive weeds.”

Lantana is listed as a Weed of National Significance and guinea grass is a transformer weed which out-competes native vegetation.

Three years of tree-planting at Thomatis Creek in Holloways Beach is reaping rewards for volunteers.

Wildlife is returning to a stretch of eroded land where almost 200 people have helped plant thousands of trees. The land is beside Thomatis Creek about 2km from the ocean – a stretch that was once cleared but later left unused and partly swept away by floods.

Terrain NRM’s Rowan Shee said many of the trees were now three metres tall.

“We’re working to reconnect two areas of beach forest and mangroves so that there is an unbroken wildlife corridor, more fish habitat and a creek bank that’ll stand up to floods better,’’ Mr Shee said.

Three hundred seedlings were planted at a community event on the weekend, bringing the total to almost 3,500 for the site. Terrain NRM has worked with Holloways Beach Community Garden volunteers, cane farmer Mark Savina, Cairns Regional Council, Dawul Wuru Rangers, Queensland Corrective Services, Holloways Beach Coastcare and people from all over Cairns since securing funding from the Queensland Government’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for the project.

Holloways Beach Community Garden’s Cameron Blackley said woodland birds were among the species returning to the patch.