9.1.5.Why keep and maintain native bush?

If you are lucky enough to have native trees and understorey on your rural residential block, you will find they provide shade and shelter for livestock, soil stability, windbreaks and homes for native wildlife. Native trees, shrubs and grasses are deep-rooted perennials keep saline groundwater well below the surface, and provide a source of seed for revegetation projects and offer a landscape that is pleasing to many people.
From a community perspective, there are other reasons for conserving what we have. Many blocks are on former sheep pastures where most of the native woody vegetation was removed, leaving only small remnant forest or woodlands, isolated paddock trees and native grasslands. There might be nearby bush remnants on public land such as road verges and public-access greenways which could be linked to these remnants.
Firewood collection in the region further reduces habitat for birds and ground species, and grazing animals can degrade native grasslands and bushland. All this means that anything that helps restore and link remnant patches of native vegetation (including the understory) on private and public lands enhances their value as wildlife corridors and as biological reservoirs.

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The right tree in the right place
by Geoff Butler
The European settlement of Australia has wrought many and sometimes irreversible changes to the Australian landscape. As a result of our requirement for food and fibre and to support our current living standards, immense tracts of native vegetation communities have been destroyed or greatly modified in the course of urban, industrial and agricultural development. This was done with little regard for what we now understand as sustainability, either for human endeavours or for other species and ecosystems.
To achieve long-term sustainability in Australia, there will have to be some significant attitudinal changes within the community. One change which could be achieved with minimal fuss, cost or inconvenience is planting the right tree in the right place.
Exotic trees are unfortunately being widely planted in rural residential subdivisions and farms, with little thought to the long-term repercussions of their use.
Some exotic species currently being widely used are Monterey Pine (Pinus radiata), White Poplar or
Cottonwood (Populus alba), Lombardy Poplar (Populus nigra ‘Italica’), various willows (Salix spp.), Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia), various Brooms and Tree Lucerne (Genista, Cytisus and Chamaecytisus spp.) and Privets (Ligustrumspp.) amongst others.
These species are proving highly invasive of natural vegetation communities and neighbouring property, including public lands. It is strongly recommended that any invasive species, such as those mentioned, not be used in rural areas. The pros and cons and economics of pine plantations continue to be debated.

Landscape changes
A major finding of international visitor surveys is that visitors come for our wide open spaces, rural vistas and our different plants and animals. Our landscapes, flora and fauna and natural heritage generally earn us immense amounts of overseas income.
As a community we need to recognise the value of landscape as an asset, and repair and enhance it where we can. The establishment of exotic trees throughout rural Australia is greatly compromising this asset.
This is not to suggest that all exotic trees have no use or should not be planted; it comes down to a matter of placement.
Some rural residents find the dryness and rough nature of the local natural landscapes too harsh, and embark on softening programs, and extend this over their whole properties. The results promise to be environmentally damaging in the longer term with invasive species spreading across the landscape. Surely the benefits of the green oasis are best confined to the near surrounds of the residence, where they can fulfil the need for softer surrounds.
Far better for the long term is to utilise native species for shelter-belts around the edge of paddocks or property, which link with neighbouring remnant vegetation or plantings. This will contribute very significantly to retaining that unique ‘Australianess’ of our rural landscapes, a feature that is rapidly being lost in rural residential landscapes.

Biodiversity protection
By planting native vegetation we can make some reparations for our past ‘environmental footprint’ and improve foraging and breeding habitat for wildlife into the future, as well as meeting all farm and recreational block requirements for shelter-belts and aesthetics. Remember, it takes four to five human generations (100–120 years) for most Australian trees to begin forming hollows suitable for habitat for many fauna species, and some species are totally dependent on native vegetation to survive.

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