THE CREEK IN OUR BACKYARD A practical guide for habitat restoration ROBERT WHYTE NEW EDITION 2013 REVISED & EXPANDED PREFACE The creek in our backyard ike the air we breathe, our waterways are a A practical guide for habitat restoration shared resource, sustaining life. Creeks and by Robert Whyte rivers are a chain of fragile links connecting Lus to the nature with which we share our space. Thanks to funding from the Federal Government, For me, expanding this book for South East Save Our Waterways Now (SOWN) has been able to Queensland is like taking a deep breath – the literal produce this second, revised and expanded edition meaning of inspiration. Filling my lungs and hold- of The creek in our backyard. Special thanks to ing a moment of calm to cherish the opportunity we Deborah Metters, who helped with the ideas behind have in South East Queensland to live with nature. the reorganisation of the book and contributed Restoring our waterways is not just the ‘right’ stories and photos from the Land for Wildlife thing to do, it is essential. Yes we can do it. Yes we network, Glenn Leiper, Tim Low, Mark Crocker, must do it. With a little effort now, we can return Sharon Louise, Dick Harding, Nick Rains, Russell our creeks to health. Harisson, Tim Ransome and Anne Jones. Many Many of our older locals remember swimming other people helped with advice, proofreading, in crystal clear streams with diverse and abundant species identification and photos. Thank you all. wildlife, sharing the water with Platypus, turtles, eels and catfish. It’s time to turn things around, This book is one small step along the way. First published March 2011, reprinted June 2011 repair creek habitats, to bring them back from the I hope it inspires you. Second edition revised and expanded June 2013 brink. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to recog- ISBN: 978-0-646-90214-2 nize and restore South East Queensland’s environ- Save Our Waterways Now Inc ment. Let’s Save Our Waterways Now. WOrlD ENVIRONmeNT DAY, 2013 PO 443 The Gap QLD 4061 Phone: 0423 763 361 [email protected] www.saveourwaterwaysnow.com.au Preface ..................................................................................... 3 Our big backyard ................................................................. 4 The benefits .......................................................................... 6 Frog rescue ............................................................................ 8 Spidiversity ........................................................................... 9 Quick-start guide ............................................................... 11 Gems of Diamond Valley ................................................. 22 Planting guide ..................................................................... 24 Healthy country, healthy stock ............................... 34 We e ds ..................................................................................... 36 Impossible restoration ................................................. 46 Say no to concrete ............................................................ 47 Plant lists ............................................................................. 48 The Platypus paradox .................................................... 55 A final word ...................................................................... 56 Sources & resources ....................................................... 57 South East Queensland waterways map .............. 58 Photos throughout ROBerT WHYTE except where noted. Cover photo of Teviot Brook aerial in circle seQWATer. Cover photo of Mount Warning in circle SHARON LOUIse. Eastern Sedgefrog Photo of Robert Whyte above right PANDORA KARAVAN. Litoria fallax. OPPOSITE: Goomoolahra Falls, Springbrook SHARON LOUIse. 2 The creek in our backyard The creek in our backyard 3 OUR BIG BACKYARD rom Noosa to the Gold Coast, encompassing South East Queensland is a biodiversity hot- Just about everyone enjoys a walk in a national the South East Queensland water grid. The problem the Scenic Rim, Toowoomba, Greater spot, surrounded by world heritage rainforest of park for the beauty of nature. We can have the same can’t be the money. So why isn’t it done already? Brisbane, the Lockyer Valley and the coastal the Border Ranges, Scenic Rim, D’Aguilar Range, pleasure right here in our suburbs, provincial towns, The problem is, just throwing dollars at it won’t Fcatchments to the north – in all, our big backyard Mount Glorious, Mount Mee, the Conondales and around our mines and on our farms. One block at work. The headwaters of all the rivers and streams is about 2.5 million hectares, with a population of the Blackall Range. It is the confluence of many cli- a time, we can restore entire creeks. The benefits go in South East Queensland pass through a myriad around 3 million. mate zones from high, cool-temperate rainforests, way beyond our backyards. of land tenures, mostly small parcels. There are Ours is a remarkably cohesive community. We through to coastal melaleuca swamps. New species Of course there isn’t just one creek – in this back- many local government authorities, landholders, share a very real feeling of good fortune – of a best are discovered on a daily basis. yard there are over 24,000 kilometres of waterways. and other stakeholders involved. It isn’t so much a kept secret. Can it be this good? On the other hand, Moreton Bay has the largest collection of tidal If we had the money to pay experts to restore our financial issue as a public relations and community can it be disappearing so quickly? Another million wetlands near a major city in the world and sup- 24,000 kilometres of waterways, how much would support issue. people by 2031. Can we handle the pressure? ports hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. it cost? The answer is – less than you might think. What we need is whole-of-community momen- Our creeks are a litmus test. Water is the lifeblood Yes, we have taken the best land to live on. Because $500 million. A lot? Let’s put it in context. Dr James tum. We need a simple campaign to symbolise the of the environment. When creeks die, the environ- it is good, fertile land in a subtropical climate, things Udy, Chief Scientist at Healthy Waterways has cal- need for action. What about “2015- 2025 – a decade ment is in trouble. When creeks are restored, they grow quickly – which is why it is possible to create culated this is the equivalent of building 10 kilome- for our creeks”? If governments and communities are the veins and arteries for the restoration of the successful revegetation in just a few years, unlike in tres of motorway. unify under a concept like this we might have a whole environment. For a view of the region see most other places. We can afford it. After all, it’s only one four- chance to save South East Queensland, before it’s page 58. teenth of the $7 billion we have already spent on too late. To the south, Mount Warning from Numinbah Valley SHARON LOUIse From the north, Glass House Mountains from Mount Mellum. 4 The creek in our backyard The creek in our backyard 5 THE BENEFITS ildlife will naturally come to restored A birder’s paradise creek habitat – attracted by abundant South East Queensland is home to over 400 species water and food. If protected from of birds, about half of all species in Australia. This feralW animals like cats, dogs and foxes, wildlife is just one example of South East Queensland’s will flourish. Natural habitat maintains higher astonishing biodiversity. Birds alone are a dissolved oxygen levels, providing better compelling reason to get into habitat restoration. conditions for aquatic life, all the way from single- Birds of prey, or raptors, are at the top of the celled animals to platypus. food chain and need complex ecosystems support- Locally-native habitats support our native wild- ing their prey – small mammals, reptiles and even life because they have evolved together. Some weeds Ornate Rainbowfish. GUNTHer SCHMIDA other birds. There is no greater sight than seeing a can support wildlife, but only in a very narrow large raptor on the wing. sense. They cannot support the complexity of life Some common bossy birds like Noisy Miners, required for a complete and healthy ecosystem. Back from the brink while native species, are threats to smaller birds, or When you remove Wild Taro Colocasia escu- In 2006 a remarkable discovery was made in Ithaca even birds their own size, like Blue-faced Honeyeat- A Spotted Harrier near Six Mile Creek, Glass House Mountains. These raptors patrol their areas in grid patterns, often gliding just a few lenta, Arrowhead Sagittaria spp., weedy sedges and Creek, Brisbane. A small population of the rare ers. The screeching alarm calls of Noisy Miners as metres off the ground, hoping to spot a mouse or even a juicy lizard like the one below. In South East Queensland we also have the Red other water-choking species, water quality will rap- Ornate Rainbowfish Rhadinocentrus ornatus was they harass in packs is a common sound in suburbs Goshawk, the rarest bird of prey in the world. idly improve. Frogs and fish will return. found near Bowman Park. and on farms. Noisy Miners prefer ‘edges’ and rarely If you get rid of vines and allow sandpaper figs This was at the height of the 2002-2007 drought stray far into closed forest. We need more pockets of Ficus spp., Black Bean Castanospermum australe, when flow had all but ceased. Unlike many other bush for small birds to find refuge. Waterhousea Waterhousea