Project overview
A 220‑hectare reserve from former grazing land.
The Victorian Desalination Plant was constructed on a site that was used for grazing and mining for over 100 years. The ecological reserve is an ambitious plan to convert 220 hectares of this land into a natural reserve surrounding the saltwater desalination Plant. Construction of the site was officially completed in October 2012. Since then, ID Ecological Management has undertaken maintenance of the project site including the ecological reserve. This includes significant ecosystem restoration works of the ecological reserve as well as maintenance of the plant site and feature landscape.
Activities undertaken
during this project
- Ecologically sensitive weed control aimed at enhancing the revegetation in naturally recruiting indigenous vegetation on site.
- Supplementary revegetation of approximately half a million plants in five years including a modest direct seeding program.
- Maintenance of the eight hectares of fields within the reserve.
- Implementation of a thorough ecosystem monitoring program directed by statistical consultants and best practice methods.
- Feature landscape maintenance aimed at maintaining a visually appealing entranceway into the plant site.
- Development of plans and programs including a weed management strategy, five year revegetation plan, and annual works plans.
- Integrated pest animal monitoring and control program.
Notable methods
implemented
- Replacement of herbed spotlight counts for pest animal monitoring with a coordinated remote camera monitoring program.
- Ecosystem monitoring integrated with the weed control and supplementary revegetation programs to provide guidance on activities.
- Translocation of bracken to the site.
- Coordination of works through a project specific GIS.
Project highlights
- Establishment & maintenance of a 220 hectare, public access reserve.
- Colonisation of the site by a group of emus (previously rarely recorded on site).
- Colonisation of the site by over 250 fauna species, including 190 birds including three nationally protected species.