Did you know, more than 19,500 animal and plant species depend on wetlands for survival globally!
Catchments (including creeks, rivers and lakes, where water is collected by the natural landscape) provide critical sources of water for people, farming and for our unique flora and fauna. Since 2018, our field teams in Gippsland have been working alongside local catchment management authorities (CMAs) to ensure that the benefits of healthy catchments keep flowing.
North of Omeo, we’ve been working alongside North East Catchment Management Authority to control weeds and restore native vegetation along the Livingstone Creek. This 53.3km stream flows into the Mitta Mitta River and supplies water which passes through Lake Dartmouth, Lake Banimboola and Lake Hume on its way to joining the Murray River.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas and early in 2021, our team in Omeo has been busy removing invasive weeds from along the banks of the Livingstone Creek. The thickets of Blackberries, Broom, Thistles and Willows that we’ve been targeting threatened to choke the river, with knock-on effects on water quality and security in the region. This recent work was a follow up to that which was first undertaken by our field team back in 2018/19.
In addition to managing noxious environmental weeds, we’ve planted about 4,600 native seedlings (including wattles, tea trees, native gums and grasses) along the creek in areas where weeds were removed. Restoring native vegetation along our catchments in this way plays an important role in controlling erosion as well as attracting native biodiversity.
By our count, we’ve worked to restore and maintain over 140km of waterways across Gippsland, including Livingstone Creek, the Avon River and Flooding Creek in West Gippsland, and others.
This work was made possible by the Drought Employment Program, a Victorian Government funded Initiative which Envite implements on behalf of the East Gippsland CMA and in partnership with North East and West Gippsland CMAs.
