A small amount of effort can provide huge benefits when it comes to protecting paddock trees now and for the future.
“Many of our large paddock trees are dying and not being replaced, leaving large gaps in the agricultural landscape,” Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority’s (GBCMA) Janice Mentiplay-Smith said.
Ms Mentiplay-Smith also said many landholder’s revegetated sites provide links to existing remnant vegetation.
“This is terrific but we do recognise that sometimes establishing large corridors of vegetation is not possible. Small ‘islands’ or ‘stepping stones’ such as trees dotted across a paddock are just as important for native animals as well as for providing shade and shelter for stock.”
Through the Linking Landscapes project, GBCMA can provide landholders with purpose-built tree guards.
The guards are fabricated to withstand pressure from cattle and sheep. Each guard requires four steel pickets to ensure it remains in place. Placed around an emerging seedling in the paddock, it can remain until the tree is strong enough to withstand stock pressure, and the guard can be relocated to protect another emerging tree.
The Linking Landscapes is supported by the GBCMA through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.
For more information please contact Janice Mentiplay-Smith on 5764 7506.
