SA URBAN FORESTS MILLION TREES PROGRAM€¦ · National Tree Day, held annually in July. The one-millionth tree of the SA Urban Forests – Million Trees Program was planted by then

SA URBAN FORESTS

MILLION TREES PROGRAM

Report and Case Studies of Selected

Targeted Project Sites

December 2013

i

SA Urban Forests – Million Trees Program

Report and Case Studies of Selected Targeted Project Sites

Table of Contents

Overview of Restoration Activities ............................................................................................... 1

Program Achievements ................................................................................................................ 2

Future Actions ................................................................................................................................. 2

Adelaide Park Lands...................................................................................................................... 4

Craigburn Farm .............................................................................................................................. 6

Edinburgh Biodiversity Corridor .................................................................................................... 8

Gawler Buffer ................................................................................................................................ 10

Blanche Point Maslin Beach ....................................................................................................... 12

O’Halloran Hill Recreation Park .................................................................................................. 14

David Suzuki Forest, Onkaparinga River National Park .......................................................... 16

Willunga Creek, Aldinga ............................................................................................................. 18

This document was prepared by the Urban Biodiversity Unit, Natural Resources

Adelaide and Mt Lofty Ranges, Department of Environment, Water and Natural

Resources

The SA Urban Forests - Million Trees Program is funded by the Department of Planning,

Transport and Infrastructure – Planning and Development Fund

1

Overview of Restoration Activities

The goal of the Million Trees Program is to reduce

Adelaide’s ecological footprint by protecting,

enhancing, and re-creating urban and peri-

urban natural habitat through strategic planting

of local native species. Each project site is unique

but some restoration management activities and

achievements are common to many of them.

These general principles are broken down as

follows:

Planning

Restoration plans are developed prior to the

commencement of a project to guide on-ground

actions. They often include vegetation and soil

surveys, reference site benchmarks, objectives

and proposed actions. Plans identify and spatially

define management units and guide on-ground

works. Generally designed to be flexible and

dynamic, restoration plans can be adapted

according to environmental changes over time.

Project teams also meet regularly to discuss

progress. Design planning for broad acre weed

management is generally a key goal for

restoration sites to decrease the costs of long

term management.

Site Preparation

The first step of site preparation generally involves

controlling any weeds present on the site. Weed

control methods may include timed slashing to

reduce seed set and strategic herbicide

application to control any potential competition

for the newly planted seedlings. Unnecessary

fence lines and other agricultural infrastructure

may also need removal so that broad acre

management can be achieved.

Fire has also been used for preparation where

appropriate, to reduce weed seed burden and

biomass and more specifically to assist with

native grass establishment. Woody weed removal

has been necessary across many sites to improve

remnant vegetation and prepare revegetation

areas.

Restoration Actions

A guiding principle for the Million Trees Program is

the use of indigenous plants grown from local

provenance seed from the appropriate

vegetation community.

Revegetation is planned to be cost effective,

time efficient, easily maintained and easily

replicated. A mixture of direct seeding of shrubs

and understorey species and tubestock planting

is being used to achieve these restoration

objectives. Revegetation is often established in

clusters to outcompete weeds within them and

allow broadacre management around them.

Within the sites there may be degraded areas

that can be improved with natural regeneration.

To assist this process exotic species are removed

so that remnant plant communities can expand

and become more resilient.

Maintenance and Monitoring

Ongoing maintenance of restoration sites is

required to ensure that the ecological outcomes

that are achieved are not lost. Follow up weed

management is critical to the success of a

restoration project and requires commitment

over a long period of time.

Monitoring is an important aspect of the

program, providing information on survival rates,

vegetation growth and site condition. A survival

rate of approximately 80 per cent has been

recorded over five years of monitoring. Typical

monitoring for restoration activities include

mapping, photopoints, and tubestock survival

rate. Weed control is monitored using mapping

and analysis of weed spread and reduction as

well as site visit observations. Data collected is

continually evaluated as actions progress, and

any necessary improvements and modifications

are implemented.

2

Program Achievements

Over 2,800,000 local native trees and

associated understorey plants established

over the lifetime of the Program towards a

target of three million by 2014.

More than 350 project sites activated across

the Adelaide Metropolitan Area and over

1,500 hectares of land have been

revegetated. These include large-scale sites

and smaller sites that link remnant vegetation

patches or create amenity value.

Promoting awareness and understanding of

the region’s unique flora and fauna and

fostering a greater appreciation of natural

biodiversity and the need to conserve it.

Providing support to organisations or groups

that aim to revegetate open space within the

Adelaide area through biodiversity plantings

and amenity projects. To date over 250

projects have been created with the

community and local councils.

Since 2003 the Program has organised over

100 community planting events, with over

5,000 children and adults attending.

Over 2,000 volunteers have now signed up to

the Friends of the Urban Forest initiative.

To date over 200 schools have undertaken

Grow a Great School projects involving over

25,000 children and community members.

Projects have included frog ponds, butterfly

and biodiversity gardens, sitting circles and

bush tucker gardens to help promote

indigenous cultural awareness.

Projects have been developed with local

councils and other partners to provide habitat

and help raise the profile of native gardens

and plants within the community.

Future Actions

Achieving on-ground results:

Information gathered by monitoring project

sites will be used to continually improve

management actions, through an “adaptive

management” approach. This data and

knowledge will also be used to guide the

efforts of other similar projects as the scale of

restoration works increases across the

landscape.

Increased monitoring of fauna and habitat

research will help assess and improve

revegetation methods to enable effective

habitat is being restored to ensure landscape

scale resilience.

Working together:

A continued focus on informing, engaging

and involving the wider Adelaide community.

Continuing to develop projects in partnership

with the community.

Maintaining our strong involvement in public

events to help provide information and raise

awareness about the importance of returning

our local native plants to our environment.

Continuing to create opportunities for the

community to get involved through events

such as planting days.

Learning through action:

A continued focus will be put on working with

schools to foster and develop greater

environmental learning opportunities and

improved curricula.

Greater integration and partnerships with

broader environmental education initiatives,

including NRM Education.

Combining our efforts:

Partnerships and joint delivery arrangements

will continue to be of paramount importance

and links will continue to be strengthened with

all project partners at all levels.

A continued emphasis on strategically

planned conservation works across

government landholdings under the banners

of Greenways and the regional NRM Plan.

An increase in the number of research projects

being undertaken on program sites by

universities and specialist field-based volunteer

groups.

3

Craigburn Farm

Gawler Buffer

Edinburgh Corridor

Adelaide Park Lands

O’Halloran Hill RP

Onkaparinga River NP

Port Willunga

Blanche Point

4

Quick Facts

160,000 local native plants planted across 11

parks.

Much of the original fauna has already been

lost from the Park Lands, yet it still supports: 10

species of native mammals and many birds,

reptiles, amphibians and insects and spiders.

Adelaide Park Lands

At A Glance

The Adelaide Park Lands are a distinctive and

unique feature that covers an area of over 760

hectares surrounding and within the City of

Adelaide. Since 2003 the SA Urban Forests - Million

Trees Program, has partnered with the Adelaide

City Council on 32 revegetation projects in the

Adelaide Park Lands. Aims have focussed on

reconstructing native environments consistent

with pre-European vegetation associations and

increasing biodiversity within the Adelaide Park

Lands.

Unique Achievements

Large-scale Red Gum Woodland and riparian

restoration programs along the Torrens River at

Tulya Wodli (Park 27) and Tainmundilla

(Park 11).

Grey Box Woodland plantings in Tidlangga

(Park 9) The Pilgrim Peace Park.

Revegetation of Mallee Box Woodland in the

Western Parks Lands (Park 23 – Wirrarninthi).

Large community planting events to celebrate

National Tree Day, held annually in July.

The one-millionth tree of the SA Urban Forests –

Million Trees Program was planted by then

Premier Mike Rann at Park 23 in July 2006.

Future Plans

Revegetation works are envisaged to continue in

the Park Lands in accordance with Guiding

Principles of the Adelaide Park Landscape Master

Plan (2011).

Restoration of native vegetation in the

Adelaide Park Lands is also consistent with the

30-year Plan for Greater Adelaide, particularly

the target to assist biodiversity restoration

initiatives throughout the region by supporting

the establishment of urban forests, linked

networks of open space, greenways and

restored urban watercourses.

Conserve and link remnant vegetation,

revegetation sites and other areas of

potential/high biodiversity value.

Regeneration and revegetation create viable

biodiversity corridors throughout the Park

Lands. In particular, build on remnant

vegetation along creek and drainage lines.

Tulya Wodli (Park 27 in 2005

Tulya Wodli (Park 27 in 2010

Wirranendi (Park 23) in 2013

5



6

Quick facts

Restoration activities undertaken across 180

hectares

Establishment of 80,000 local native seedlings

since 2008

Mechanical and hand direct seeding of

shrubs and native grasses across 20 hectares

Craigburn Farm

At A Glance

Located in the Adelaide foothills between Eden

Hills and Flagstaff Hill Craigburn Farm connects

and buffers the Sturt Gorge Recreation Park

which contains some of the largest and intact

remnant communities of Grey Box Grassy

Woodland (a nationally threatened ecosystem)

in the Adelaide Region. The SA Urban Forests -

Million Trees Program has been working to

improve its habitat and biodiversity value through

the control of woody weeds, revegetation with

local native species and native grassland

management.

Unique Achievements

Removal of critical threats through the control

of directly competing woody weeds from the

root zone of old growth Grey Box trees

Establishment and continued expansion of a

native grass seed orchard of 25,000 grasses

capable of producing mass quantities of seed

for use in grassy ecosystem restoration

activities

Improvement and development of visitor

experiences through the removal of old farm

infrastructure including fences and buildings,

improved safety around Craigburn Lake and

the construction of shared use trail networks

around the site

Future Plans

Future restoration activities at Craigburn Farm will

continue to build on the achievements to date

and may also include:

Further revegetation focussing on the key

components of Grey Box Woodland

understorey specialist species using traditional

tubestock planting and/or hand direct

seeding

Working specifically to address the habitat

requirements of threatened woodland bird

species or other fauna in the region. This may

include targeted plantings for food or nesting

requirements.

Further paddock tree canopy plantings to

reflect an open grassy woodland ecosystem

whilst also allowing for a continued broad

acre weed management regime

Restoration will complement other activities and

make connections to nearby Local Government

reserves at Blackwood Hill and Sturt Gorge

Recreation Park. Combined these reserves will

form a very large, landscape scale complex of

native vegetation in the region and in particular

conserve nationally threatened Grey Box Grassy

Woodlands.

2010

2014

Revegetation and a trail network is turning

this once agricultural land into valuable

open space for recreation and biodiversity

7

Removal of choking olives and other woody weeds (above) is slowly turning Craigburn Farm back to grassy woodland (below)

2012

2013

Student planting event in 2013 by the lake and the native grass seed production area

8

Quick facts


hectares


Edinburgh Biodiversity Corridor

At a Glance

Located in the northern Adelaide suburbs of

Direk, Edinburgh and Burton, the Edinburgh

biodiversity corridor aims to create links from

areas of existing revegetation across the northern

coastal plains to the adjacent the remnant

coastal mangroves. Since 2003, the SA Urban

Forests - Million Trees Program has been working

to restore these land parcels to Red Gum

(Eucalyptus camaldulensis) open riparian

woodland with Mallee Box (Eucalyptus porosa)

open grassy woodland in the terrestrial zones.

Unique Achievements

Creation of a long corridor of habitat linking

the plains to the coast.

Continual development, maintenance and

harvesting of seed from the two Seed

Production Areas (SPA) within the Corridor.

Revegetation has focused on establishing a

wide range of tree, shrub and groundcover

species to improve structure and diversity

throughout the corridor.

Future Plans

A future program of restoration activities at

Edinburgh Corridor would continue to build on

the achievements to date. Future plans would

include but not be limited to the following:

The continued development of habitat for a

range of local fauna to utilise.


components of Red Gum riparian woodland

with grassland terrestrial zones and

transforming into chenopod shrubland closer

to the Mangrove corridor.

Creation of a trail networks and interpretive

signage so the community can begin using

the site and learn about local native flora.

2007

9

2009

2007

10

Quick facts


hectares


Gawler Buffer

At a Glance

Gawler Buffer is part of Adelaide’s Metropolitan

Open Space System (MOSS) located in the

northern Adelaide suburbs and situated within

the Green Belt in the Playford Hills.

Since 2003 the SA Urban Forests - Million Trees

Program has been working to restore this once

agricultural land back into the pre-European

vegetation association of Mallee Box (Eucalyptus

porosa) open grassy woodland. This will provide

wildlife habitat links from the Gawler River across

the Northern Foothills.

Achievements

Return of many bird species which had not

been seen in the area since pre-agricultural

disturbance.

The creation of wildlife links between remnant

roadside vegetation and bushland reserves

incorporating riparian areas.



(672kg of seed sown).

Future Plans


Gawler Buffer would continue to build on the

achievements to date. Future plans would


Creation of a trail network to provide

opportunities for the public to appreciate the

local environment.

Continued riparian restoration to enhance the

watercourses through revegetation and

erosion control measures.

The continued management and use of Seed

Production Area (SPA) located in the northern

Adelaide metropolitan zone and progression

of an open woodland restoration across vast

areas of the site.

Continued weed control across the site.

Site preparation for grass and chenopod direct seeding

activities

Preparation burn before Chenopod direct seeding

The seed production area

11

Gawler Buffer as cereal crop land in 2004

Gawler Buffer in 2007 after plantings in 2005

Gawler Buffer in 2009

12

Quick facts



chenopods and native grasses across 15

hectares

Blanche Point Maslin Beach

At a Glance

The site is part of Adelaide's Metropolitan Open

Space System (MOSS) and is being developed in

line with principles of conservation and passive

recreation for a Coast Park from North Haven to

Sellicks Beach.

The area was cleared for agriculture in the past

and subsequently contains very little remnant

vegetation.

The project is transforming former cereal

cropping and grazing land into a valued open

space reserve and resource for local residents.

The project also aims to recreate the pre-

European vegetation and structure, considered

to be a coastal shrubland along the cliff edge,

blending into a very low open woodland/low

open Mallee woodland.

Unique Achievements

Reintroduction of rare coastal plants and

vegetation associations that have been

preferentially cleared from the landscape.

Restoration of a cliff top ecosystem important

for coastal bird species and other indigenous

fauna.

14,000 indigenous plants established by 150

community volunteers at a National Tree Day

event in 2013

Future Plans


Blanche Point would continue to build on the

achievements to date.


components of Mallee Box open grassy

woodland.

Continued enhancement of the highly used

coastal cliff top walking trail.

Hard working volunteers at National Tree Day 2013

Pied Cormorant inspecting the work

13

Approximately 15,000 seedlings ready to go into the ground

Volunteers at National Tree Day 2013

14

Quick facts


hectares


55ha of primary weed clearance

O’Halloran Hill Recreation Park

At A Glance

Located in the Southern Mount Lofty Ranges, 16

kilometres south of Adelaide O’Halloran Hill

Recreation Park has been a targeted project site

of the SA Urban Forests - Million Trees Program

since 2003. While the reserve contains few

remnants of original vegetation it is an important

area of open space in the urban zone providing

habitat for native wildlife and space for

community recreation. Management actions in

this park have included widespread weed

control and large scale revegetation across

approximately 90 hectares.

Unique Achievements

Areas of native grass direct seeding to

outcompete weeds and represent open

grassy woodland structure.

Natural recruitment of new plants from

planted ones leading to a more natural, self-

sustaining ecosystem.

The establishment of groves of Drooping

Sheoak to re-establish this important habitat

that was preferentially cleared from the

landscape.

Regular surveys have confirmed the presence

of many native bird species utilising the

revegetation areas.

Future Plans

A future program of restoration activities at would

continue to build on the achievements to date.

Future plans would include but not be limited to

the following:

The establishment of biodiversity pods to get

understorey species into areas that are now

suitable and increase the plant diversity of

revegetation areas

Timed slashing in areas of native grass to

expand populations and outcompete weedy

grasses.

The creation of swards of Kangaroo Grass to

suppress soil nitrates and develop the sites

resistance to weed invasion

Majors Rd South 2003

Majors Rd South 2013

Growing revegetation and dead olives, 2013

15

Darlington 2006

Darlington 2013

Dense swards of native grass from direct seeding

16

Quick Facts


hectares




David Suzuki Forest, Onkaparinga River

National Park

At A Glance

This project is one of the earliest and largest

projects of the SA Urban Forests - Million Trees

Program at Onkaparinga River National Park. The

David Suzuki Urban Forest is characterised by the

spectacular backdrop of the Onkaparinga

Gorge. On an ecological landscape scale it

provides connectivity between the remaining

remnant vegetation of Blewitt Springs, the

Willunga Basin and the Mount Bold Scott Creek

biodiversity hotspot complex.

Unique Achievements

Natural regeneration of native species has

occurred in some areas with the removal of

grazing pressure

Native grasses have colonised parts of the site

where favourable conditions have been

created

Improved connectivity within the landscape

which is important for local threatened fauna

such as the Cunningham Skink (Egernia

cunninghamii)

Many bird species have been recorded within

the site as the revegetation has matured and

more habitat has been established

Other fauna recorded in the site includes

echidnas, kangaroos, and a variety of reptiles

Future Plans

A future program of restoration activities at the

David Suzuki Urban Forest would continue to build

on the achievements to date. Future plans would


Mechanical direct seeding of native grass

species in select areas using the systems and

methodologies developed by the Urban

Biodiversity Unit over the past years but not as

yet implemented in the Onkaparinga River

National Park.

Working with the fire management unit of

DEWNR to achieve fuel reduction objectives in

some areas whilst achieving natural

regeneration and native grass establishment

preparation.

David Suzuki Forest 2011

David Suzuki Forest 2006

DEWNR Planting Day in the Forest August 2013

17

School children planting with Dr Jose Ramos Horta during his visit to the site in 2010

Small flocks of Red-browed Finches can be seen regularly at the David Suzuki Forest flitting between the revegetation and

nearby puddles to catch insects.

18

Quick Facts

Restoration activities undertaken across 36.7

hectares


Willunga Creek, Aldinga

At a Glance

The Willunga Creek is part of Adelaide’s

Metropolitan Open Space System (MOSS) and

lies 38km south of the City of Adelaide and it is

bounded by Bowering Hill Rd and Old Coach Rd,

Aldinga. The Aldinga Arts Eco-Village abuts this

parcel of land to the south. This area of the

Willunga Creek project is 36.7 ha in size.

Achievements

The engagement of approximately 500

volunteers on scheduled community planting

days over a 5 year period to help plant a

variety of native species.

The creation of a Friends of Park group, the

Friends of Bowering Hill.

Major clean up of creek line including

mechanical removal of woody weeds and the

removal of old farm infrastructure.

Part of the Willunga Basin Corridors Project

connecting the hills to the coast.

Future plans


Willunga Creek would continue to build on the

achievements to date. Future plans would


Continued revegetation of area including infill

planting to minimise recurring introduced plant

species and erosion control within the riparian

zone. Revegetation will continue to be

focussed on replacement of both Eucalyptus

porosa and Eucalyptus camaldulensis

vegetation associations

Continued community involvement within the

site through the Friends of Parks initiative.

A linear trail has been investigated by the City

of Onkaparinga to provide further

opportunities for community recreation in the

area.

Hard working passionate volunteers

Removal of non-indigenous trees

A cluster of seedlings

19

Willunga Creek, Aldinga 2013

Willunga Creek, Aldinga 2009

SA URBAN FORESTS MILLION TREES PROGRAM€¦ · National Tree Day, held annually in July. The one-millionth tree of the SA Urban Forests – Million Trees Program was planted by then

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