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Community & Business

10 July, 2021

From weeds to wildlife

FROM weeds to a forest, Ravenshoe land owners Anne and Ivan Evans have begun to restore hundreds of trees and native mat rushes along South Cedar Creek.


Land holder Anne Evans restoring the wildlife around South Cedar Creek and Marshall Creek.
Land holder Anne Evans restoring the wildlife around South Cedar Creek and Marshall Creek.

FROM weeds to a forest, Ravenshoe land owners Anne and Ivan Evans have begun to restore hundreds of trees and native mat rushes along South Cedar Creek.

So far more than 2000 new additions to the forest have been planted as a part of the ‘Native Vegetation: Many Hands Make Light Work’ project run by Terrain NRM and Tablelands Regional Council (TRC). 

The project aims at removing invasive weeds from the area and restoring native trees on the creek banks which were found covered in lantana and guinea grass.

Mr and Mrs Evan said that they felt like they won the lottery when they were asked to begin replanting the trees along the creek bank. 

“You couldn’t see the creek because of the weeds a couple of months ago, so we brought in machinery to remove them,’’ she said.

“Then we got a call from the council and what they were proposing fitted right in with what we were trying to achieve.”

The weed removal is a crucial step taken from TRC and Terrain NRM to ensure that there are no drastic changes to the ecosystem around South Cedar Creek and its neighbouring Marshall Creek. 

“At Marshall Park the canopy trees were there, but everything underneath the canopy was invaded by weeds,” Terrain NRM’s Chelsy Maloney said. 

“If we don’t stay on top of managing this area, it’ll lead to an irreversible change of the ecosystem.” 

The project will continue to remove any invasive weeds found and trial multiple native plants along the river bed.

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