Team effort brings greener pastures to Coranderrk

By Kath Gannaway
GREENING Australia will lead a united effort to revegetate the former Coranderrk Aboriginal Reserve land along the Yarra River in Healesville.
Local school children, Aboriginal elders and the Shire of Yarra Ranges will work with Greening Australia, which earlier this year enlisted the help of students from Badger Creek and Warburton Primary Schools and Healesville High School to put in 1500 plants along the banks of the Yarra around Coranderrk. Other groups involved in the revegetation project include Melbourne Water and volunteers from local school communities.
The Shire of Yarra Ranges’ weed strategy and tree planting officer, David Blair, said trees and plants were provided through the shire’s Ribbons of Green program, a project aimed at creating habitat corridors by connecting bushland areas on private property with forested public land.
“The Coranderrk Station land has primarily been used as farmland and paddocks for many years,” Mr Blair said.
“Greening Australia is doing a fantastic job working with farmers to devise a plan that will meet the needs of stock in the area and enhance the local environment.
“This project includes fencing off part of the Yarra frontage and putting plants back in to stabilise the river’s embankments.”
Mr Blair said the project was an excellent opportunity to re-establish native vegetation along part of the Yarra River, which would enhance habitat quality, reduce bank erosion along the river and provide a source of bush tucker.
Mr Blair said the project involved plans to put in 2000 plants between May and June with the help of Greening Australia and Melbourne Water. Another 2000 would be planted, he said, by students at Worawa Aboriginal College, which is also on the Coranderrk Station land.