Protecting the Strongholds

The 2023 ecological assessment describes of Barrm Birrm describes it as ‘arguably the most intact flora and fauna area in the region’. It is a stronghold for four species of threatened flora, and for those who venture in, a great place to walk. Close to town, but a world away, the bush quiet around you, stretches of sunlight falling through the tree cover onto the grasses down the slope – walking here is a way to rebalance.

We’ve had pretty good rains and plants are getting ready to bloom. Riddells Creek Landcare took a group out for our Springtime Walk to see the Dwarf Silver Wattle, one of those threatened species, and to enjoy the afternoon sunshine. RMIT students visited to hear what we have been doing to protect this bushland, and we put them to work on a patch of agapanthus leftover from years ago when people first bought their lots and built camps.

Not many campers these days but in September a new owner parked his trailer on this lot looking ‘for more freedom and fresh air’, he told me. Five days later, the trailer was gone, cut chain links on the ground suggesting it wasn’t the owner that moved it.

Our Landcare group goes in once a month to knock off the weeds that travel in from the town. The gates on the roads into Barrm Birrm have slowed the flow of 4WDs (owners and CFA have the code to get in). Things have been getting better, but trail bikes come and go at will.

In the past, bike riders have contented themselves with tearing around the upper slopes that are already damaged, but in the last couple of months they have been cutting new trails in the soft surface of the lower slopes.

What to say? This is destructive. The bikes cut down through the surface layer of moss, lichen and grasses, exposing the soil. Moving water washes the soil away. The land will take years to recover. In what was untouched stretches of grassland, we now have humans amusing themselves, a short-term thrill for a long-term wound - see RCL’s website for what is happening.

Stripped of its layer of moss and lichen and grasses and leaves, the surface is exposed to erosion.

Someone in Riddell knows these four trail biker riders. Maybe you know someone who might know them. Have a word. They’re trashing the place, and that is not right. Stick to the established tracks. Go up to the top and tool around there, but the lower slopes are doing just fine the way they are, slowly recovering.

This is the bushland in Riddells backyard. With our population set to double, we’re going to need these places, and they need looking after or they will go downhill fast.  Protect these strongholds, so close to where we live.

Ross Colliver

Riddells Creek Landcare