Sowing seeds for the future

The Yarraweyah Biodiverse Reforestation Project is just days away from planting the first seeds that will restore 100ha of land in an area recognised internationally as a biodiversity hotspot.

Nestled between the Stirling Ranges and Fitzgerald River National Park, Yarraweyah is also situated in the middle of the Gondwana Link pathway, one of the largest conservation projects in Australia, which connects and revegetates 1000km of land between Margaret River and the Nullarbor Plain.

Since February last year, property owners Bill and Jane Thompson have hand collected 200 species of native seeds to be used to rehabilitate an area cleared for agriculture, and provide 25,000 tonnes of carbon to be bought as carbon offsets through not-for-profit organisation Carbon Neutral.

Mr Thompson said they relocated from Queensland to be part of the Gondwana Link project because it was important to local and global environments. “We believe we have more than 700 plant species on our property, which is about the same as the whole of Great Britain,” he said.

“The Stirling Range has 1500 (species) and the Fitzgerald National Park has about 2000 — the biodiversity is just incredible.”

Mr Thompson said the project differed from other restorations because it would involve more than 200 plant species while others used between 20 and 100.

“The important thing is to plant species that are resilient to climate change and other impacts so it will be a self-perpetuating ecosystem and will go on forever,” he said.

“The planting we’re doing is carbon intensive which means species have to satisfy certain requirements under the carbon farming initiative.

“Long-lived species, such as the mallees, have big root systems underground, so even if there’s a bushfire the majority of the carbon will be retained in the soil.”