On the  spring 2017 community planting day, ten of us put in a total of 1,050 shrubs and trees, although truth be told, Phil Kinghorn  planted a good 200 trees on his own around the hill the next day. The chosen Sunday was sunny – a pleasant change from the driving wind and rain we have experienced since August. We had a barbecue lunch next to the repurposed pine and OSB wooden container that once carried railway parts. Phil gets these for free from the Ballarat railway station yards. He and Neville weatherproofed the container with 2nd hand gal and it offers a shelter and focal point for site visits, right next to the pruned and thinned farm forestry clumps of shining gum and Sydney blue gum.
 
We guarded the casuarinas as the wallabies love to snack on them. The other shrubs we simply staked to ID where they were.  They were planted on a 2-3m wide strip that had been sprayed with glyphosate and simazine, with this strip arcing around to the north of the current biorich plantation. We debated slashing, but in the end weather defeated us and we decided, anyway, that the long grass could hide the shrubs from wallabies and rabbits. The grey box, black wattle and manna gum and other forestry trees went on a northern aspect on the hill and around the central dam. Some went on the perimeter around Footrot Flats, which went underwater last year and only a few trees from the previous 2015 spring planting had survived. Forestry trees were donated by Central Highlands Water, Steve Murphy who helped run the day, donated 40 drooping sheoak. AFG gave $750 to the branch.
 
We put in more of the locally endangered provenance of Banksia marginata. That along with another endangered shrub, Hakea decurrens, flourish on the hilltop. The biorich plantation is acting as a seed bank, as well offering habitat and farm forestry resources.

We're giving spotted gum a second chance up on the biolink ridgeline. All the spotted gum on the flats below have succumbed to frost. Guarding might help too, especially as Phil and I spotted a roo on the ridge when we arrived early in the morning to plant three clumps and a total of 40 altogether. If at first you don't succeed, try again (at least once!)...

Phil brought along 20 swamp gums ( a gift from Central Highlands Water): "Why do we want any more of those?" I complained. But they're the local dominant woodland tree species, so for consistency of design, they need to be brought back everywhere on site.  

BRT has received funding from the Communities for Nature program to build a biolink between the south and north sites. 

The 50m wide corridor will go from the top of the hill around the ridge above the west flank of the dam to join the swamp woodland remnant. Steve Murphy and Gib Wettenhall are pictured on top of the ridge  inspecting the four rows of rip lines. The contractor Jensan has also sprayed with simozine.

We have grant funds of $5,770 to purchase a multi-layered mix of 2,000 indigenous plants and hold a community planting day. Steve has drawn up a list of 24 different species from 12 plant families. Imerys has pledged 500 trees, which we intend to use to purchase forestry trees – perhaps to form a clump at the southern  base of the hill.

To offer high quality, predator proof habitat, 50m is considered the minimum width for a reveg corridor. The corridor will be 350m long.