‘Watson’s Creek’ – included in Biodiversity Project

New Landcarers Wayne & Pam Watson, with their new fence!

On the 18th of January, fencing began on another site (Watson’s) which has added 11.8 ha of remnant woodland to the corridor being protected and revegetated between Mt. Disappointment State Forest and the King Parrot Creek. Watson’s site joins the lower end of ‘Hidden Valley’ and includes a riparian zone along the valley floor. The seasonal creek that runs here, drains out of the ‘Hidden Valley’ site into King Parrot creek and has erosion along the banks and heavy blackberry and some pussy willow infestation along the watercourse. The weeds are being addressed by Wayne & Pam and erosion will hopefully be arrested by some of the revegetation work.

Access to the site is via a very long driveway that appears on the map as ‘Drunk’s Track’- ironically one of the straightest tracks in the area!

The inclusion of Watson’s site into our Biodiversity Project, was made possible through assistance to the land holders for fencing under a Riparian Management Agreement from the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority. The Strath Creek Biodiversity Project has covered the gap in funding for fence materials and the riparian revegetation that will take place.

Our regular fence builder, Alan Stafford, put himself out of action at the end of December, breaking a foot while relaxing at home! Since recovering, he has moved on to assisting land holders rebuild fences after the Boho fires. We thank him for his assistance with our project.

New Head of Fence Building is Terry Hubbard (photos here), who volunteered his time and equipment to ram end assemblies in at Watson’s and the Granter site in the Strath Valley.

Pam and Wayne Watson, enthusiastic new landcarers, are now excellent fence builders. Once Terry put in the end and gate assemblies, Pam and Wayne completed the 650m fenceline without assistance. Mind you, it is the only flat ground in the Project!