| Forest re-establisment
at Mt Best
We decided to begin forest re-establishent with ripping the degraded
pasture along hill contours, to maximize the moisture holding
capacity of the soil.
As you can see from the photo, D7E bulldozer used to do the work
is as big as a house.
Most native Australian plant species improve their germination
and growth rate when they are exposed to fire and/or smoke. We
have simulated this by using commercially available smoke treatment
(REGEN 2000), to treat all seeds before spreading them.
Ripping extends to the very edges of steep and deep gullies, where
re-vegetation has already commenced.
Cutting contours in a steep terrain is a dangerous job. It was
quite scary to watch Mick dancing on his dozer half in the air
cutting contours.
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Mick, our contractor, is an experienced operator with lifetime
experience in forestry work. After working most of his life logging
forests Mick enjoyed helping out in our re-vegetation project.
Soil ripping uncovers seeds from ancient forest,
that existed here for thousands of years prior to arival of European
vandals. Exposing seeds gives them a chance to germinate.
We also spread 30 kg of seeds of some 20 native species to assist
Nature in re-generation.
We decided to leave a small fenced section of pasture around the
old house and sheds. Animal grazing will ensure that this section
will continue to serve as a fire break.
In order to imagine the scale of the project, try to see the power
pole near the top left.
We initially thought that the job would take 5 days to complete.
It actually took 11 days.
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