Greening Australia volunteers replanted threatened native vegetation at Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Research Institute - a Cumberland Plain trial site balacing sustainable management of agricultural systems with conservation. Anna Eramus sits in the tree planter which inserts a row of seedlings in one pass, while others follow with stakes and bags to protect them.

Saplings are growing well in at a trial site to restore endangered native vegetation on the Cumberland Plain in south western Sydney.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries’ Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Research Institute (EMAI) at Camden is one of four trial sites that have been replanted.

'We have established a demonstration site for restoration and an educational resource for the agricultural community,' said Institute manager, Greg Wall.

'The site demonstrates sustainable management of agricultural systems, balanced with conservation of native vegetation,' said Mr Wall.

It’s a challenge to ensure true restoration of the ecosystem, and that the genetic integrity of both the newly restored site and adjacent bushland has not been compromised in the process.

Half the Cumberland Plain is still used for agriculture - heavy clay soils, eucalypt woodland with characteristic grassy native ground cover - and a large proportion of the plain’s remaining bush is privately owned rural land.

Of the 268 000 hectares of vegetation calculated to have existed in 1750, about 12 percent remains as reasonably intact bushland, including work already done under the Greening Western Sydney program. Of this, six pc is protected in National Parks.

NSW and Local government authorities own the four trial sites and have developed an incentive scheme to encourage private landowners to conserve and regenerate habitat for native fauna species that are under pressure.

Vegetation management techniques are included in a set of best practice guidelines for landowners and land managers, entitled Recovering Bushland on the Cumberland Plain.

The publication provides the information and techniques to help them conserve and regenerate native bushland.

Most stands of native vegetation on the Cumberland Plain are listed as Endangered Ecological Communities under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, and biodiversity on the plain is among the most threatened in the State, identified as a priority for conservation.

Bushland remnants on EMAI are classed as regionally significant. Two native vegetation communities on the property are endangered.

EMAI comprises 1600ha of the original 2000ha granted to John and Elizabeth Macarthur in 1805 and remains one of the largest single land holdings in the Sydney Basin.

The Commonwealth Natural Heritage Trust provided funds for a project submitted jointly by the Department of Primary Industries, the Department of Environment and Conservation (formerly National Parks and Wildlife), Department of Infrastructure Planning and Natural Resources, the Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Management Authority, Greening Australia (NSW) and Camden Council.

Conserving bushland areas is intended to help improve water quality in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River, improve air quality and provide more opportunities for recreation and education.

The booklet is available from the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) website at http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au.

Hard copy is available at EMAI Library, (02) 4640 6394 or from DEC’s Threatened Species Unit, (02) 9585 6678.

Contact: Greg Wall, (02) 4640 6333 or greg.wall@dpi.nsw.gov.au.

- RON AGGS

This story appears in Agriculture Today.