BELLINGER River System LANDHOLDER BOOKLET
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BELLINGER RIVER SYSTEM LANDHOLDER BOOKLET BEST PRACTICE FOR A HEALTHY RIVER Acknowledgements This booklet has been produced by Bellinger Landcare with funding received from the NSW Environmental Trust, in partnership with: • Bellingen Shire Council • North Coast Local Land Services • Bellinger River Freshwater Action Group • Office of Environment and Heritage • Western Sydney University • Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Cultural Centre Thank you to all project partners for their input into the booklet and especially the Orara Valley RiverCare Groups Management Committee Inc. and Coffs Harbour City Council for the use of their booklet as a template. Thank you to Envite for the use of their photographs. Thank you to the artist Jackson Rae for use of ‘George’ - the turtle mascot featured on the front of this booklet. Bellinger Landcare Incorporated. Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed as Attribution-Share-Alike under http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. You may copy, adapt or modify and distribute this work, provided that you credit the author, the title and the licence the work is under. Any new work produced using this material must be made available under the same terms. Contact: www.bellingerlandcare.org.au Bellinger Landcare Inc. (BLI) 1a Oak Street, Bellingen NSW 2454 Phone: (02) 6655 0588 The documented may be cited as: Bellinger River System Landholder Booklet, Bellinger Landcare 2016. Compiled and edited by Natasha English, Amanda Norman and Kylie Brooks Design and layout: Dee Rogers and Kylie Brooks Disclaimer: This booklet was prepared by BLI staff in consultation with the listed stakeholders and other professionals on the basis of available information. Information provided should be considered as general advice only. While all care was taken to ensure accuracy of the contents, the authors accept no responsibility for any claim, loss, damage or liability arising out of the use of this booklet. Printed on recycled paper. Bellinger River System Landholder Booklet CONTENTS THE BELLINGER RIVER ........................................................................................................................................................................4 Location .........................................................................................................................................................................................4 Climate ...........................................................................................................................................................................................4 Geology and soil .........................................................................................................................................................................5 Riparian zone ...............................................................................................................................................................................5 Aboriginal significance .............................................................................................................................................................5 Background of the Bellinger River ........................................................................................................................................5 WHAT MAKES A HEALTHY RIVER? ..................................................................................................................................................6 What does a healthy river look like? ....................................................................................................................................6 River roughness...........................................................................................................................................................................6 River health for turtles ..............................................................................................................................................................7 Vegetation corridors ..................................................................................................................................................................8 Ecological community ..............................................................................................................................................................8 WHY REHABILITATE THE RIVER ..................................................................................................................................................... 10 Bank stabilisation ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Improved water quality ......................................................................................................................................................... 10 Improved farm productivity and land values ................................................................................................................ 10 Improved biodiversity ............................................................................................................................................................ 11 BUSH REGENERATION ..................................................................................................................................................................... 12 What is bush regeneration? ................................................................................................................................................. 12 Aims of bush regeneration................................................................................................................................................... 12 Principles of bush regeneration ......................................................................................................................................... 12 Good condition ........................................................................................................................................................................ 13 Site selection for on-ground works ................................................................................................................................... 13 Weed control methods .......................................................................................................................................................... 14 Weed List .................................................................................................................................................................................... 17 When to revegetate ................................................................................................................................................................ 22 Outcomes of revegetation ................................................................................................................................................... 22 Plant spacing ............................................................................................................................................................................. 24 Native plants for the riparian zone .................................................................................................................................... 25 Caring for new plantings ...................................................................................................................................................... 27 STOCK MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................................................................................... 28 Why is stock management vital for the riparian zone? .............................................................................................. 28 Best practice stock management ...................................................................................................................................... 29 Fencing ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 30 Stock watering .......................................................................................................................................................................... 32 Formed access points............................................................................................................................................................. 34 USEFUL ONLINE MAPPING TOOL ................................................................................................................................................ 36 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 39 Additional Information .......................................................................................................................................................... 39 3 Bellinger River System Landholder Booklet THE BELLINGER RIVER Location The Bellinger River rises below Point Lookout, within the Great Dividing Range, southwest of Ebor. The river descends over 1150 metres and is over 109 kilometres in length, in a south-east direction through an extensive coastal