Reference Ecosystems

Grassland Resurrection - Connecting Knowledge, Research & Management Forum  8 May, 2026. Fitzroy Town Hall, Melbourne, Victoria Presenter: Ben Courtice Ben Courtice has a degree in botany, with honours in plant ecology. He was a founding member and past convenor of the GPN, and is a member of AABR. He works as a bush regenerator [...]

Grassland Resurrection - Connecting Knowledge, Research & Management Forum  8 May, 2026. Fitzroy Town Hall, Melbourne, Victoria Abstract Grasslands occur all over the globe, in a wide range of ecological and cultural contexts. Despite their diversity, most grasslands share some basic features, such as soil fertility, the presence of certain key plant families, and long [...]

Managing vegetation change under current and future conditions, a perspective from old, climatically buffered, infertile landscapes (OCBILs) in Western Australia.- Prof Stephen Hopper Australian Association of Bush Regenerators members were treated to a rare west-coast perspective when Professor Stephen Hopper AC joined our recent webinar, Managing vegetation change under current and future conditions – a [...]

Innovation in Conservation Symposium – May 10, 2024 – Ryde TAFE Topsoil translocation- 25 years- What’s been learnt? Mark Walters - Soil Translocation Specialist Topsoil from development sites is usually headed for the tip and, although it’s distressing to see bush being cleared, the silver lining can be found in saving the seed-rich topsoil. Mark [...]

AABR National Forum 2024 – The R’s of Restoration Wait and see - the benefits of time to explore resilience - Brian Bainbridge Brian has worked in ecological restoration since the mid 1990s. For over twenty years Brian worked with the community-based not for profit organisation - Merri Creek Management Committee and over the past [...]

AABR National Forum 2024 – The R's of Restoration Using the SER Standards to improve restoration project design - Lincoln Kern Lincoln is an ecologist with a keen interest in indigenous biodiversity conservation and environmental issues. He trained in botany and environmental science in the USA, before studying environmental management at Deakin University in Melbourne. After [...]

Once so degraded and weed-infested that it seemed beyond repair, Wingham Brush is now a globally significant example of ecological restoration success. Starting work in the late 1970s, driven by innovation and an understanding of the forest’s resilience, a pioneering team challenged conventional bush regeneration methods to restore this remnant of critically endangered subtropical rainforest. [...]

Damien Cook, ecologist and co-founder of the Wetland Revival Trust (WRT)  outlines the project planning process the WRT are using to implement their goals outlined in the Blueprint for Action which include Ensuring restoration is based on sound science and practical knowledge: Embedding the National Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration in their work processes [...]

The guest speaker at this year’s Annual General Meeting is Dr Andy Baker who will be demystifying reference ecosystems, expounding their virtues and answering that question of every bush regenerators lips, Are we getting sub-optimal results by not defining our reference ecosystem? Dr Baker will be discussing the following scenarios Grassland – What happens if we [...]

The second in a series of lunchtime webinars co-hosted by AABR vic and ECA Vic. Tein McDonald (a principal author of the National Restoration Standard) will first highlight ways the Standards’ principals and tools can be applied locally. Lincoln Kern (Consultant / restoration designer) will then highlight how the standards informed the La Trobe University [...]