We are delighted to announce that Rivers of Carbon has been awarded a New South Wales Bush Connect Environmental Trust grant to extend our work into rivers around the Goulburn district.
Rivers of Carbon – Goulburn District River Linkages, continues our focus on connecting and linking riparian rehabilitation projects (undertaken over the past 20 years by various groups) with remnant vegetation and other works. Strong community demand led us to put in the application to rehabilitate riparian areas to boost native vegetation, reduce sedimentation, and improve stock management. Connecting riparian and terrestrial vegetation, and increasing biodiversity are key outcomes, as well as raising awareness and sharing knowledge about the many values our rivers have for communities – both human and ecological.
Our inaugural meeting was held in December 2015 where we gathered our partners Greening Australia, the Upper Lachlan Landcare Group and South-East Local Land Services to celebrate being awarded the grant, and the project is now well underway. Over the next four years we will be seeking twenty-five landholders to work with us to protect and enhance twenty-five kilometres of riparian corridor, as well as linking 1500 hectares of remnant vegetation. Alternative water is available for up to fifteen landholders (if required) to offset loss of access to the waterway. Overall, we are going to plant 40,000 tubestock and do fifty kilometres of direct seeding using local provenance native seed.
Our project runs for ten years, so once the initial site selection and on-ground works are done, we will be returning to each site and reviewing progress. We will also be running field days and other events to share what we are learning and raise awareness about how best to manage rivers in this district for biodiversity gains.