Track Care WA News

Roelands Project an amazing success!

On the weekend of 17th and 18th October, Track Care ran a clean up style project at Roelands Village. Westpac Indigenous Banking group, through Amanda, introduced us to Roelands Village and we began planning this project one month prior to meeting on 15th September at Roelands. The project was done at short notice due to the dependence of removing cotton bush on the weather. In all, we had an attendance of 28 people representing Track Care, Westpac, Armadale 4WD Club, 4WD Club of WA and Isuzu 4WD Club. Graham lead the group on a tour of the sites for the next day and promised to get them up on the hill for a sunset preview of the drinks and nibbles at sunset planned for the Saturday night. We visited both sites and there was a large amount of smoke from a nearby bush fire. The sun was red but we did not get to see it set. Why, you may ask? Well, Graham took us up a large hill (yes, the one he thought was the hill for the great view on Saturday.) but when we got to the top, the smoke was too thick, the view wasn’t to the coast as promised and the sun had already set! We headed back to camp and started with a discussion around the campfire of what we would be doing for the next day along with all of the normal chat that occurs at these events. On Saturday morning, we went to a site alongside a creek with a swimming pool and waterfall where we weeded the nonnative grasses from the native grass. There was an incredible passing of knowledge between the group as people realised the best way to distinguish each type of grass while doing the weeding. The weeding was in preparation for the planting of Jarrah, Karri, Peppermint trees and other local

native plants later during the weekend. This only lasted for a little more than an hour as we were to return to the campsite for a Welcome to Country and some story telling from Les and Syd who were residents of the village as youths. This was a highlight for the weekend as we all participated in part of a healing process for all. Les is a person who can talk longer than Graham but has far more interesting topics to talk about! After the Welcome and stories, we had lunch and headed to the two work locations. One group went back to the creek site and continued the weeding, and planted 250 plants over the afternoon. The other group hit the cotton bush HARD! We found that the timing was almost perfect for removing the cotton bush by pulling rather than cutting and using poison. A fantastic environmental result. Nobody counted the number of plants removed, but the picture below says it all for day one of the weeding!

Saturday afternoon, Graham led us to the site to watch the sunset. He did find the right hill and parked us in the middle of some very lovely Scottish Thistle. But all jokes aside, the view was fantastic, the sun set alongside Bunbury harbour and a huge conversation bubble lasted the entire time we were there. Just after sunset, we headed back to camp, had dinner and most of us gathered around the campfire for another talk fest. Sunday morning the entire remaining team headed back to the cotton bush site and covered an enormous area removing yet more plants. This time we created multiple small piles of plants to reduce the amount of time spent walking up and down the hill creating one large pile. Although the plan was to work through to lunchtime, at morning tea break, Graham called a stop to the work so that people had time to pack up, group together for a sausage sizzle and depart for home. It is staggering how much can be done by a group of enthusiastic volunteers! Les, Amanda and Graham have agreed to get together soon to create a six to twelve month plan for projects at Roelands Village. In the meantime, if you wish to stay at Roelands there is the ability to camp on site for $20 per vehicle per night or check out the website for more information on the large scale accommodation available. www.roelandsvillage.com.au Thank you all!

Planting at Ellen Brook Nature Reserve

Words and images by Jan Bant - Friends of the Western Swamp Tortoise and John Collins - Track Care WA Inc.

Track Care WA Inc. has found that the development of enduring partnerships with like-minded volunteers and land managers is an essential part of maintaining 'Access for the Future' for 4WD recreationalists. To help achieve this goal, members of Track Care WA Inc. and our partners, the Isuzu 4×4 Club of WA Inc. came together to assist Friends of the Western Swamp Tortoise and community members at a revegetation planting at Ellen Brook Nature Reserve. Why was this an important activity for our respective members? According to the Department of the Environment and Heritage, the Western Swamp Tortoise is one of Australia's most endangered reptiles. It has the smallest surviving population of any Australian reptile. Restricted to only two wild populations, there are less than 200 endangered Western Swamp Tortoises left. These survivors live in wetlands on the Swan Coastal Plains near Perth in Western Australia. The Western Swamp Tortoise is listed as endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. Western Swamp Tortoises are ridiculously small, growing up to 15 centimetres in shell length. They are remarkably like the Longnecked Tortoise in appearance except they have a shorter neck! The Western Swamp Tortoise is unique, with an ancestry that dates back 15-20 million years. During winter and spring, the tortoises live in the water, feeding on insects, larvae and tadpoles. In the drier, hotter months they shelter under leaf litter and in holes and aestivate (sleep), not re-emerging until the winter. On the last Saturday in June, fifty adults and fifteen children came together to plant over 4500 of 5000 seedlings provided by Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions (DBCA). There was a

Teaching the young. TCWA's youngest member at work.

A portion of the group listening to planting instructions.

wide range of plants that included Acacia Pulchella (Prickly Moses), various Melaleuca species through to the very tall Swish Bush. The remaining 500 plants had to go into muddy water on the edges of the swamps and the DBCA experts planted them the following week. Fortuitously, there was an exceptionally heavy rain shower just after the completion of planting that settled the seedlings in to their new home, which means we are now looking forward to an enhanced establishment rate. The revegetated area was part of a horse stud just a few years ago but dedicated Western Swamp Tortoise Recovery Team members arranged purchase of the land adjoining the Ellen Brook Nature Reserve. Planting the bare paddocks and realigning the feral proof fence have been a priority for the Friends group, Chittering Landcare and DBCA. Ellen Brook Nature Reserve is the only self-sustaining population of the short- necked, critically endangered Western Swamp Tortoise, which was believed extinct for over 100 years. Since its rediscovery in 1953, the population has fluctuated markedly, due to habitat destruction, feral predation and slow breeding rates. Although none of the cryptic reptiles were spotted, they would have been swimming in the newly filled swampy areas and hiding amongst the plants. The finalisation of an Memorandum of Understanding between Track Care WA Inc. and the Friends of the Western Swamp Tortoise will see further collaboration on a project near the Moore River National Park to enhance suitable habitat for releasing captive bred hatchlings from the very successful Perth Zoo program. If you are interested in assisting with similar worthwhile protection projects and you are not already a member of Track Care WA Inc., please contact us via our webpage.

Ms Jessica Shaw MLA Member for Swan Hills rolled up her sleeves to help this community tree planting effort. Biosecurity and equipment hygiene is important. Laurance discussing his tow hitch boot cleaning station.

Isuzu drivers busily planting.