Photo Credit – Jayden Gunn
We are excited to have further funding to continue the critically important work everyone has been doing to put scattered paddock trees back into our farms. Planting trees, for the future, to help the Superb Parrot plus many other species in the long term. Some of the key threats to the Superb Parrot are the loss of living and dead hollow bearing trees and poor regeneration of nesting trees.
This year we also have a small amount of funding to assist you to fence off large old remnant trees to protect them from stock damage so they can continue to provide shade and shelter on your farms for many years to come. There is a fantastic fact sheet, put together by Local Land Services, about the importance of scattered paddock trees in our landscape and for our farms here
Most of you would now be very familiar with the paddock tree work and the mesh we have been using to construct the guards. The cost of this mesh and star pickets has increased significantly again during the last year. We can offer 70% towards the cost of the mesh, star pickets and trees for this project. We can also provide up to $750 towards fencing materials for the large old trees. There are more details in the attached Expression of Interest (EOI). Construction and installation of the guards, fencing and planting of tube stock is to be completed by you. Hopefully we will get a couple of farm depot offers again and will have tractors to load the mesh onto your vehicles when you are ready to collect.
We cannot give exact pricing until all EOI’s are received, assessed and prioritised. The current indication is that a 30% contribution by participants for one large roll of mesh and the pickets needed should work out to be about $350 and less for the shorter mesh rolls. (fingers crossed no more steel price rises in the meantime)
We really hope you would like to be part of this project. If you are not familiar with these tree guards or have any questions, please just give us a call and we can talk you through it.
You can find out more about the Superb Parrot Project and scattered paddock trees on our website here You can also access a Mid Lachlan Landcare region map here to check that you are eligible for funding.
Please contact us midlachlanlandcare@gmail.com if you would like an expression of interest sent through to you. Applications for this grant close on the 19th February.