THE Merri Creek Management Committee (MCMC) are still looking for support to grow the seedbank in the wetlands between Beveridge and Wallan.
An email sent said the MCMC was still looking to get to its $40,000 goal to bring Herne Swamp back to life.
MCMC Ecological Restoration Team Leader Robbie Belchamber said in the email the swamp could be crucial to restore ecosystems.
“Rail corridors are really interesting because they’ve often been protected from the kinds of disturbance happening in the surrounding landscape,” he said.
“They were fenced off from agriculture and regularly burnt to reduce fire risk from steam trains, so they’ve preserved parts of the original environment that have disappeared almost everywhere else. They’re also subject to a seasonal flooding regime that isn’t present in the rest of the landscape.
“There are thought to be at least three orchid species currently present on the site.
“But in the 1980s there were 14 species recorded there, including some that are extremely cryptic and hard to detect. Nobody has worked this area intensively for more than 20 years, so there’s still a lot to learn about what’s surviving there. Engaging in works on the site provides a potential opportunity to find any undetected populations.
“It’s about giving these overlooked landscapes a chance to recover and creating the foundations for restoring the wider wetland system over time.”
The email comes as Mitchell Shire Council also planned to join the wallan wallan Regional Parklands Alliance as a supporting organisation at its council meeting last night.
The recommendation was to join the Alliance, with Councillor Claudia James nominated as the representative to attend meetings.
Council, through its representation as a supporting organisation, would support the purpose and goals of the Alliance, but is not a member, and so is not involved in or bound by decisions that are made by the committee.
