Friends of Bass Valley Bush Inc Landcare

 The Friends group was established as a volunteer organisation to help protect remnant native vegetation in the Bass Valley.

Major strides have been made - such as flora and fauna surveys within the region and the identification of ecological vegetation classes (EVC's) when we are called in prior to the removal of native vegetation. Unfortunately the Statewide Native Vegetation Retention Controls are seldom enforced in this part of Victoria! During one of our many surveys we were able to identify Bobucks (Mountain Brushtail Possums) alongside the Bass River. They had not been recorded in the region for over 25 years before a colony was discovered on the Bass. In other surveys, Nesting sites have been located for Wedge Tailed Eagles and Powerful Owls - and Platypus have been found in the river.

The decision to set up the group was made once it was realised that most of the organisations with paid staff had lost their focus. There was no interest in maintaining existing vegetation. The view seemed to be that job creation was more important than preserving environmental values. Only projects which included opportunities for a salary component - such as replanting and fencing - were considered. They simply were not interested in protecting the little native vegetation which was left because more money could be made by rehabilitating sites once they had been destroyed. The achievement of outcomes designed to improve biodiversity and effective management of our natural resources took second place to establishing a bureaucracy capable of soaking up money.

For the same reasons there is a fixation with replanting. Throwing money at buying trees, shrubs, tree guards and managing staff is a hugely expensive way of achieving the objective of enhancing bushland. It's usually far more environmentally effective to concentrate more on regeneration and encouraging natural processes. But there are many people who like to take control and drive an active management plan which involves heaps of dollars - for them, simply 'doing nothing' is not an option. Frequently minimal interference creates a far better long term outcome. One of the big issues which has seen hundreds of millions of dollars spent on replanting and fencing projects has been the 'photo opportunity' for politicians. It's much more popular to have a picture published showing a Minister planting a tree than looking at an area which is successfully regenerating! It's past time for the outcomes to be audited. It's one thing to show an expenditure trail for public money but it's quite another to establish whether or not the money was spent on things which provided a positive and long term environmental benefit. 

In some cases, particularly where large Landcare 'networks' have been established, the community Landcare Groups - the basis for the success of Landcare in Australia - have absolutely no control over the co-ordinators/facilitators. Responsibility has been taken by Shire Councils or Catchment Management Authorities, leaving the community with little or no say in project development, planning and implementation. Unless the Landcare officers are employed by the groups, there is no opportunity for real community input and this has led to a decline in membership and support for Landcare by many farmers. They feel disenfranchised by the current system which has paid officers telling them what to do instead of the original Landcare concept of group members making decisions and employing someone to help with implementation.

It's sad that officers of the Department of Sustainability and Environment have allowed native vegetation to be bulldozed in the name of sand extraction in areas which were regarded as an essential part of the regional biodiversity matrix. In some areas even Giant Gippsland Earthworm habitat has been largely destroyed. Riparian Forest is now very hard to find on the Bass River - or anywhere else in the region. Take a look at native vegetation maps or aerial photographs and you will quickly see that there is virtually no vegetation here - it has all been cleared for agriculture.

Once sand mining starts we can kiss goodbye to the tree ferns on this section of the Bass and not only is this the last that's left here, there are only about 13 hectares of Riparian Forest remaining anywhere in the region of the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority.

One of the disappointing things that happened in the past was the destruction of Ruddy Ground Ferns, a species of regional significance at Bass. A small colony  was growing amongst pine trees which have been removed with no thought of protecting the ferns. There have  been a few examples of Strzelecki Gums which have disappeared. The Swamp Lily is also regionally significant and it can be found in suitable habitat along the river.
The only Riparian Forest on the Bass is buffered by dry schlerophyl forest which provides the vegetated link from the Grantville Flora and Fauna Reserve to the river - habitat for Powerful Owls, Tree Goannas, Swamp Skinks, Swamp Antichinus, Southern Brown Bandicoots and Potaroos.
If the river is fenced off to restrict free access to livestock, revegetation is undertaken using local indigenous species and willows removed in a systematic fashion, we should see an improvement in water quality, and less erosion. It's not rocket science but it's hard to get the message over to some because they see any suggested change in the way they do things as a threat to their 'right to farm'.

Take a look at why native vegetation is important. Click here.