Riparian Zone Restoration at Forest Home

–Huonville Scouts at Forest Home –

In addition to being certified as organic, the Forest Home farmland received some extra TLC with the Huonville Scouts planting 1,000 low-growing trees and shrubs across the property.

Areas planted included the Riparian Zone, a wildlife corridor and an eroded gully. In return for their hard work, the Scouts received their Nature and Environmental badges, which takes 30-hours of work to achieve. The Club also received a donation from Huon.

Freshwater Environment Manager, Adam Chapman, said dubious weather conditions ensured the Scouts well and truly earn their stripes.

–The Huonville Scouts planting trees at Forest Home Hatchery –

"A group of eight Scouts, three Scout Leaders and a couple of Huon Aquaculture family volunteers worked tirelessly across both days to plant a thousand low-growing trees and shrubs," said Adam.

As well as inclement weather, unusually dry and hard soil conditions saw the scouts carrying countless buckets of water from the river to water the trees in. –“The soil was incredibly hard, which is unusual for the Huon Valley, and each hole dug out for the trees was done so with much sweat and tears,” said Adam. –"These native plants will serve as future understory vegetation below the site's magnificent big gums, which already exist along the riverbank at Forest Home. It is hoped that these shrubs, like Acacias and Banksias, will not only attract nectar feeding native birds and insects to the river, but also stabilise the banks to reduce erosion during floods."

This isn’t the first time that the Huonville Scouts have rolled up their sleeves at Forest Home. Back in 2013, they planted around 300 plants across the site including Blackwood and Paperbark trees. –“The goal of the original tree planting was to form a screen for the then new hatchery, and to provide a habitat for native animals.” –Unfortunately, many of these original trees did not survive due to a combination of factors including dry weather, floods and grazing. To mitigate against the new trees being lost to grazing, the 1,800 metre Riparian Zone is now fully-fenced and the Scouts will audit their growth annually and further regenerate where needed.

The cost of fencing the Zone was covered by a grant that Bruny Island Cheese secured for land restoration and is a condition of meeting Organic Certification—which stipulates that a minimum of five per cent of land be set aside for conservation and restoration.