Jody Gunn, Angela Sanders and Matt Appleby, Bush Heritage Australia

At Bush Heritage Australia we protect some of the most pristine and intact landscapes in the country. These landscapes have retained ecosystem function, have adequate representation of flora and fauna, and healthy soils and water. This land may require a degree of human intervention: managing invasive predators, ensuring appropriate fire regimes, ensuring known cultural and natural values are protected forever. But sometimes our properties or partnerships require a more significant level of intervention or restoration innovations. Restoration may be required for different circumstances, but in all cases, persistence, innovation, and dedication to working with and learning from others have been consistent factors.

Scottsdale Reserve, NSW

Active land restoration has been a key component of our work at Scottsdale Reserve since Bush Heritage first started managing it in 2006, as parts of the reserve have been cleared of vegetation, grazed by stock and cropped since the 1870s. The 1,300 ha Reserve protects endangered grassy box woodlands and temperate grasslands and supports many rare birds, mammals, fish and reptiles.

Scottsdale is the site of a long-term project to restore 300 ha of degraded grassland and grassy woodland on the valley floor and along creek lines. The team at Scottsdale, along with partners Greening Australia and the Australian National University, have been undertaking restoration trials over many years, involving different revegetation techniques and methods to reduce the impact of invasive weeds. Key learnings from our work include:

• Low rates of a selective herbicide produce excellent results in the treatment of African Lovegrass.
• Returning native grasslands requires persistence through successions of weed invasions. Following removal of African Lovegrass, we observe a flush of exotic annual weeds that take about two years to die down and a gradual recolonisation by native species.
• Soil preparation is vital to getting seedlings to establish and survive. Deep holes allow the roots to quickly penetrate and weeds are suppressed (in the short-term).

Fitz-Stirling region, WA

The region between the Fitzgerald River and the Stirling Range National Parks in south west WA is a fragmented landscape that has been largely dedicated to livestock grazing and crops. The area has seen significant clearing for agriculture, but patches of remnant bushland remain. Over the past 15 years, Bush Heritage has been reconnecting native vegetation in a 70 km stretch of this landscape. Through property acquisition, shared management arrangements, and active regeneration, Bush Heritage now owns or co-manages 10,000 ha of land where 2,500 ha has been restored. Success can largely be attributed to planning, including spatial identification of priority areas for restoration, and adaptive management principles to ensure ongoing improvement. Highlights from this work include:

• Millions of seeds from more than 270 different species planted since 2003, creating diverse plant communities.
• Improved techniques for direct seeding.
• The return of many animals, including Honey Possums, Western Spiny-tailed Geckoes, Black-gloved Wallabies, Tammar Wallabies, Southern Emu Wrens and Malleefowl.

Bush Heritage has management responsibilities across more than 8 million hectares of land around Australia, in partnership with many others including Aboriginal groups. With increasing fragmentation, land degradation and a rapidly changing climate there will be increasing need for innovations in restoration ecology. Sharing our challenges, failures and successes will help us continue to develop new and more efficient restoration techniques.

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Mallefowl mound—a species that has returned to the Fitz-Stirling region since restoration began. Credit: Amelia Caddy.