Restore and Connect Endangered Peppermint Box Woodlands

By the Goolwa to Wellington Local Action Planning Association

This project is delivered as a partnership between Landcare Australia and the Goolwa to Wellington Local Action Planning Association to buffer and link remnant areas of Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 listed Pepermint Box (Eucalyptus odorata) Grassy Woodlands through the completion of 174 hectares of revegetation. Work has been undertaken across five sites and from August 2016 to present, 130km of machine direct seeding, over 47,000 spots of hand seeding and 21,000 seedlings have been planted.

Private landholders, local Landcare groups, community groups, Green Army and the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority have been engaged to assist with all aspects of implementing the project, from site preparation, seed collection, seedling propagation, and planting. The project has further been supported by Natural Resources South Australia Murray-Darling Basin and Adelaide Botanic Gardens with technical assistance on translocation of threatened plant species.

The project is currently showing excellent results with high survival rates of seedlings and germination of seed in direct seeding. Thirty-six species have been utilised in the revegetation, with sites already supporting native grass dominated ecosystems. Furthermore the project is generating significant public interest due to the high profile location of the Jakem Farm site, adjoining the South Eastern Freeway, part of the Adelaide to Melbourne road corridor, between Adelaide and Murray Bridge.