Oolong Sanctuary Newsletters Number 1

Oolong Sanctuary banner created by J. K. Phillips

Newsletter 1

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WELCOME TO THE OOLONG SANCTUARY NEWS!

April-December 2001

Dear Friends,

This is our first newsletter and I would like to share with you some reflections on the development of the sanctuary within Dalton Park ,as well as some of the past (and present) ups and downs and discuss what the future holds for our endangered remnant ecosystems.

Up to 1987 Dalton Park was almost a desert. There was not much sign of life other than that of sheep, foxes and wild cats. The property was overstocked to an incredible level. As a matter of fact I had to instruct my solicitor to act promptly on the removal of the stock by the previous landholder if we were to proceed with the purchase.

I fell in love with the property the first time I put my foot on it. There were incentives for me and I embraced the task and proceeded with much pleasure to restore the ecosystems. One of the most striking natural features was a steep gully from the hill towards the west. I visualised a hanging lake on the slope to take advantage of the view to the west and also to be able to use gravity to feed water from two dams above to compensate for evaporation and to keep constant the lake water level.

The lake with two islands became the breeding place for a variety of waterfowl which I have been able to purchase under licence by the National Park and Wildlife Service. The presence of vermin, perhaps because of the proximity to the village of Dalton, was a constant menace.

Two magnificent pairs of resident Wedgetailed Eagles and a pair of Goshawks, regularly fed on duckling exposed on the newly established wetlands, which were not yet revegetated. This was urgently remedied with the construction of several ponds protected by netting. We also built an additional 18 dams and enclosed these areas with 1.9 electrified fences in two more loops.

As soon as the two additional dams were constructed above the lake and connected to it by PVC pipes, I proceeded to enclose the whole breeding area with the first loop of electrified 1.8m fences.

I had no intention of using any chemicals and I introduced angora goats to the area to remove blackberries and other weeds. Cape Barren Geese established their territory and contributed also to the removal of weeds. It has been very pleasing to see the surprise of some botanists on the absence of weed on the property.

The only weeds which are of concern are Serrate Tussocks and Sifton Bush, the spreading of the later has been unfortunately caused by soil disturbance by the developers of a now defunct gold mine during the construction of access roads with creepy crawly mounted tractors. We remove tussock by mattock. For the Sifton Bush we had to experiment. We employed first a private contractor to remove it by slashing and this costly procedure (over $5,000 to clear a few hectares) resulted in further dense germination of the seed. Obviously the alternatives were either the use of a defoliant chemical, which kills everything that grows there (also very expensive) or an innovative method, which would not disturb the soil in the process. We tried with a brush cutter and several different types of blades. This approach is very successful but labour intensive.

Some erosion and salinity affected two areas near and across the western boundary, extending into the adjoining property to the West. I employed the former Soil Conservation Service (now DLWC) to do some bank construction to divert the run off water from the salt saturated area. After two years a thick revegetated bush and tree cover developed on the lower land. The water table is considerably lowered and the only exception are the lowest points within Dalton Park where a revegetation program with tree planting will soon take place to complete the rehabilitation of the area with assistance by Mr Andrew Johnston, Project Officer Greening, Australia.

I have been doing some calculations which have somewhat surprised me when I realise that I have spent over $500,000 in all the work done, fencing etc, without counting the loss of income by having the farm uderstocked and excluded from the Sanctuary, which extends over 60% of the property. To be able to walk in the bush and discover more than 10 orchid species and see the results of the regeneration process on the endemic fauna and flora, the understorey in particular and the greatily improved water quality uncontaminated by chemicals is a pleasure. The Dragonfly is Back!

It has been very demanding and it would be almost impossible to further successfully develop such an ambitious and comprehensive program as that of Oolong without outside financial assistance and community support.

A regional Landcare program, which involves 19 local groups, one for each project, has attracted various grants for about $1,000,000.

My real odyssey started two years ago when I tried to communicate with the several government agencies, coordinators, politicians and conservation lobby groups, privately owned and run sanctuaries, etc. I had to send voluminous letters to explain the program and the plans for the future. It took over 12 hours each day for a long while till I promoted the formation of a supporting association and improved communication on the Internet.

I developed the Oolong WebPages and I have been extremely lucky to have some very good supporting friends in Canberra, Yass and in the Southeastern NSW, who assisted me in the formation of the Friends of Oolong.

I am particularly grateful to Ms Kay Fredericks, Secretary/Public Officer, who shared my vision in the development of the sanctuary and to the other members of the inaugural committee, who participated with their enthusiasm in the setting up and incorporation of our non-for-profit association, which is growing in strength every day. We now have over 50 members. Mr Lewis Merriman, a devoted conservationist and hard working member is helping us with the setting up of many of the projects, which we are going to manage at Oolong.

The applications to the Australian Taxation Office ( for our association to be endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) and as an Income Tax Exempt Charity (ITEC) and to be entered in the Register of Environmental Organisations) are being processed.

As soon as the Friends of Oolong Inc will have its status recognised we should be considered by several philanthropic agencies and receive the essential and vital funds required to carry on with the Oolong program.

It is pleasing to see that we are getting more enquiries from volunteers offering to undertake some of the work on routine projects. Birds, Australia, Greening Australia, Bushcare, The Southern Directorate of the National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS), the Australian National University and the University of Adelaide are involved with some of our main projects. We are also negotiating the development of some projects with the cooperation of the regional Landcare.

We are members of ourcommunity.com.au, which is our online resource for donations.

The highlight of the program so far is the NPWS Officers preliminary report on Oolong and adjacent land in which they state that our remnants are significant since the Northern Slope Dry Grass Woodland and Tablelands and Slopes Dry Herb/Grass Woodland are part of the White Box-Yellow Box Woodland, which now has a preliminary listing as an endangered ecological community in the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act, 1995.

To conclude I wish to remind all our friends that, although visiting rights to Oolong Sanctuary and the farm are restricted to scientists, members of our association are welcome to bushwalk and/or to camp overnight on any weekend and by application at any other time.

Please let me have any feedback and your impressions on how we could improve the newsletter.

I take this opportunity to offer to all of you my best wishes for the Festive Season.

Gianni William D'Addario,
President, Friends of Oolong Inc.