Central Billabong
What's not to love about being outdoors amongst the redgums, planting and restoring wetlands on a sunny day, with kids having fun in the mud and a bbq?
This was all thanks to a planting event at a property on the Yanco Creek, organised by Andrea Mitchell from Yanco Creek & Tributaries Advisory Council Inc (YACTAC). With plenty of help and a little bit of muscle, restoration works were achieved including:
A big thank you to Anna Turner (Charles Sturt University), Lachlan Spalding (Murray Local Land Services), farmer David Leeds, teacher Briony Fattore and students from Coleambally Central School, who through exemplary teamwork made this day a great one.
The project was made possible through YACTAC landholder funding and Murray Local Land Services "Wetlands for Wildlife" grant which aims to improve habitat for threatened species, as well as species considered a priority by the community.
And as for the mud, a few kids ended up completely covered!
Coleambally Central School students embraced muddy boots and big smiles as they joined YACTAC on November 27th to plant native wetland species at the Leeds property, “Broome”, on the Yanco Creek. The students planted jointed twig rush, spike rush, and sedges to restore a backwater habitat.
You know you've hit on something big when farmers stop what they are doing, in one of the busiest months of the year, to keenly participate in a workshop. Interest in the African Boxthorn biocontrol pilot program demonstrated just how much of a problem Boxthorn is.
Over the course of several events in late 2022 and early 2023, significant work has been undertaken to restore fish habitat on the Colombo Creek. Schoolkids helped plant trees, while a separate event was held to reduce carp numbers through electro-fishing.
Central Billabong landholders celebrate the incredible success of willlow removal projects over the past 15 years, which have turned clogged creeks into broad, navigable waterways, flanked by redgums and revegetation plantings, and home to native fish and birds.