Restoring the banks of the Namoi on 'Kilmarnock': Success arising from persistence

Summary   This is the story of one landholder's 20-year effort to restore riparian vegetation to 35 km of the Namoi River in inland New South Wales, Australia. Decades of clearing, grazing and weed invasion had degraded the river to the extent that the banks were slumping during floods, with loss of old trees. Methods of willow control and revegetation are described to help guide landholders with similar problems and offer potential solutions. Most of the banks involved in the project are now stabilized by native trees, shrubs and grasses; wildlife is increasing; and water quality is improving. A small local Landcare group started in the early 1990s, and is now undertaking similar work on seven other properties. A state government initiative has also been developed in the area, and a 120-km Demonstration Reach has now been established on the Namoi River between Narrabri and Boggabri.     

Restoring at landscape scales: Interview with Andrew Bennett

Intrigued by the power of science to grapple with questions relevant to management, Victorian landscape ecologist Andrew Bennett has directed his career to investigating how human land‐use and landscape change affect native fauna and ecological processes, seeking ways to achieve the ongoing conservation of Australian native fauna.     

Big Scrub: A cleared landscape in transition back to forest?

Restoring the rainforests of the Big Scrub is a powerful restoration symbol for the regional communities of far north coast New South Wales, but it is only a partly realized aspiration. What progress has been made in 35 years and to what extent is the aspiration achievable?     

Science and Practice in NRM: Insights from connectivity restoration in the south west slopes of NSW

Interactions between landholders, practitioners and research scientists have greatly influenced landscape restoration activities in South‐eastern Australia. Vegetation connectivity projects undertaken by Holbrook Landcare Network in the Slopes to Summit (S2S) region of South‐eastern Australia have benefitted from the input of both scientists and practitioners. This paper explores what factors support an evidence‐informed restoration outcome, what constrains this and what we can learn from this case.