This was the first Australian attempt to restore a rainforest. Wingham Brush is 9 hectares of lowland tropical rainforest in the Manning River valley adjacent to the town of Wingham upstream of Taree. This remnant and the 5 hectares at Coocumbac Island Nature Reserve are the most southerly representatives of this type of rainforest of which less than 100 hectares remains in NSW today.

John Stockard and his team started the restoration in 1980. A team of 6 worked 4 hours per week (24 hours per week). The project was funded by the local Council and various grants. It is an interesting story of people in the field faced with an assemblage of problems, who worked out the best way to achieve results through discussions in their small group..

We found that the real world situation meant that principles that we had been taught needed to be re-evaluated. I kicked against a lot of ideals in my time at Wingham Brush and took a good deal of heat for it on the basis of representing my teams position. We are never going to return the bush back to the promised land of the Dream Time but we can do some tremendous things to keep the ecological processes going.

The major goal in rainforest restoration is gaining a weed-free canopy and closing it. Continual maintenance weeding is required to ensure native succession and the forest’s survival. The development of glyphosate application techniques for aggressive exotic vegetation formed the basis of the program’s success.

Aerial photographs in the 1960s showed the crowns of the trees to be dominanted by exotic vines, Cats Claw Creeper (Macfadyena unguis-cati), Madeira Vine (Anredera cordifolia) and Balloon Vine (Cardiospermum grandiflorum). A similar photograph taken in the mid 1980s gives an indication of the rate of canopy loss. The rainforest trees became ‘green poles’ shrouded by vines. Over times the green poles collapsed under the weight of vines and the trees died from loss of sunlight and root competition. These exotic vines have a capacity to damage rainfoest wherever they occur

Macfadyena unguis-cati has long seed pods containing winged seeds and grows well in heavy shade. Its tendrils aid in climbing. In the ground is a network of tubers, from the surface to about 1 metre below, intertwined about the roots of the trees, a tuber developed every half metre along the roots of the vine. When we began the restoration program under the auspicies of the National Trust we tried to dig these networks of tubers out of the ground. It was impossible as the cut roots and tubers kept resprouting.

We resorted to herbicides. Joan Bradley, herself a chemist, recommended we try a number of them. We chose Roundup for a number of reasons, the primary one being that it killed cats claw creeper. We cut the stems, bundled them and painted the herbicide into the cut stems. One slide showed 586 stems, counted by the team at the time, encircling a rainforest tree trunk.

Anredera cordifolia dominated areas with high light levels. We realised that although we could hand weed the forest floor, we also had to remove the vines from the canopy to allow the rainforest tree seedlings, which came up in their thousands, to have enough light to survive. When we cut Anredera we found that the aerial tubers, sometimes in great football sized masses, stayed viable for up to 11 years. A heavy hail storm which defoliated much of the Brush assisted by knocking down most of the suspended tubers. On the soil surface we counted 1500 tubers per square metre. These we raked into piles and sprayed. Tubers in the ground were still sprouting after 10 years of intensive spraying.

Question: How often was Anredera sprayed?

Answer: About every 4 weeks for most of the year, using all kinds of concentrations at various times.

Tradescantia albiflora carpeted the ground up to 60cm deep and prevented the emergence of most seedlings, native or weed species. Dense carpets of Tradescantia were sprayed, most effectively in late autumn and winter. We found that by leaving the Tradescantia as a weed mat, seedlings of Macfadyena died in it and by the second year following the removal of this vine from the canopy, all seed on the ground had rotted. This cut maintenance dramatically.

Question: Did the blanket spraying knock out many native seedlings?

Answer: Yes, a few but the real question is whether they were significant ecologically. We constantly had to weigh up our strategies in terms of winning this particular battle or the whole war. The project was like a war against weeds. I learned that rainforest seedlings below 100mm in height had little chance of survival. Once they grew past that stage they survived all sorts of stresses.

Question: Did you vary your strategy according to the depth of the Tradescantia?
Answer: Absolutely. If the canopy was providing lots of shade and there were ferns and other groundcover natives we treated the area differently, using hand weeding and more selective spraying.

Cardiospermum is a weed of the rainforest edges. Curtains of this vine consisted of many small stems woven together to form a dense, impenetrable curtain which collapsed the forest edges inward. Following cutting of these vines with brushhooks and spraying of sprouting stems and seedlings, the rainforest canopy grew out toward the light. Spraying and hand weeding of seedlings has continued for 11 years after the vines were removed from the canopy, the numbers of seedlings decreasing with time.

The most exciting time was in the early stages of the project when we ‘rescued’ living trees from under the vines, enabling them to survive. The vines we laid on the ground and sprayed. The strangled stems of the trees developed shoots, soon forming canopies which in turn shaded the ground. Many of these trees were mature phase species.

Question: Did these surviving trees suffer from sunburn.
Answer: Surprisingly, No. Once they get about 1 metre in height they are very tough compared with seedlings which die very easily.
The higher the light levels the more regeneration – both native species and weeds. Early in the project we found ‘tobacco’ (Solanum mauritianum), a South American soft-wooded colonisor, to be a useful nursery plant for seedlings but later removed it and used transplanted seedlings of Stinging Tree (Dendrocnide spp). which quicky grew into substantial trees providing projecting canopy which suppressed weeds. White Cedar and sandpaper fig also came up in the gaps.

Exotic trees presenting a long term management problem, such as Camphor laurels (Cinnamomum camphora) were cut and milled by a local timber contractor yielding a net profit of $A 1467 for the project.

Joining the Brush together
The remnant rainforest was divided into three portions by two unsealed roads with powerlines and dissected by an additional vehicular track. One portion is owned by the Department of Education and the other two by the Department of Land and Water Conservation and is under the control of the local Council (Taree City Council). Robin Buchanan’s original work on edge-effects led us to the view that the three little pieces needed to be joined into one. There were a series of small steps to accomplish that first objective to join the pieces into one and these have finally been achieved after 14 years.

Fencing
A bicentennial grant enabled Wingham Brush to be fenced, preventing rubbish dumping and controlling movement of the public through the Brush. The post and rail fences along the tracks through the brush worked well except for occasional vandalism. Interpretive signs have been erected.

Flood, drought and frost
One of the big problems of working in Wingham Brush was floods. For miles upstream the river banks of the valley are choked with weeds such as Tradescantia and as the project progressed we became ever more mindful that we were keeping a small island clear in this sea of weeds. Floods bring weeds right into the middle of the reserve.

The high velocity zones of the river bank presented problems. Bush Tobacco (Solanum mauritianum), which has shallow roots, was taken out by floods resulting in erosion between the rainforest and the river. The perimeter fence got dragged out and it knocked out many trees and shrubs. This zone contained some Waterhousea floribunda, Tristaniopsis laurina and Callistemon viminalis. These species form a different sub-alliance and the zone has now been planted with them.

The worst frost in 25 years (1995) froze many young trees to the ground.

From 1991 to 1995 Wingham Brush was increasingly affected by drought which thinned the canopy and stressed the trees. In 1995, probably due to the drought there was a huge influx of Little Red Flying-foxes (Pteropus scapulatus) which stayed for 3 months devastating the mid canopy throughout the rainforest. Wingham Brush is vulnerable to the effects of droughts and frosts. This is the reason for it being the southern limit of this type of rainforest.

Flying-foxes
Wingham spent 70 years trying to kill off flying-foxes. However, despite all the virus business, no negative letters about flying-foxes have been seen for a long time. It was an advantage to the Brush that we were able to link in with the people concerned about flying-fox conservation, raising awareness of their importance.

Wingham Brush is an important maternity camp for Grey-headed Flying-foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus). The resident population varies widely from year to year according to the availability of Eucalyptus blossom. Flying-foxes transport the seeds of a wide range of rainforest plants, up to 40 km, between camps connecting isolated remnants to other rainforest gene pools.

Question: Did the flying-foxes like the removal of the vines from the trees?
Answer: Yes after the vines were removed the flying-foxes had much more roosting space. They used to always congregate on the north side of the Brush and now occupy a larger part of it because the removal of the exotic vines has allowed the trees to develop canopies which provide more roosting space..

The large figs provide lots of roosting space without much impact from the flying-foxes but the animals strip the leaves from other species such as Stinging Tree (Dendrocnide excelsa), thinning the canopy and allowing light to the ground. The influx of Little Red Flying-foxes caused major canopy damage because the animals cluster together, breaking branches. These flying-foxes usually visit for up to 6 weeks and the damage to the canopy repairs within a year. However, careful maintenance is needed to prevent weeds proliferating in these canopy gaps.

Little Red Flying-foxes visit periodically. During the drought in ’94-’95, a population of 400,000 followed 4 years of drought. The Brush took 2 years to recover compared with 1 year following previous visits usually of a couple of months.

Fungi
John showed beautiful photographs of a wide range of fungi found in Wingham Brush. They are the big recyclers of dead wood. The diversity of species and continuing occurrence at the Brush indicates that fears that herbicide is detrimental to them are unfounded.

Brush Turkeys
Brush turkeys were brought in, without any consultation. They are popular with tourists.

Question: Do they spread Tradescantia around?
Answer: They rake up all the vegetation into big mounds and do a good job in collecting and composting the Tradescantia and Anredera tubers.

Sclerophyll vs. Rainforest regeneration
Some questions highlighted the differences in perspective of bush regenerators working in sclerophyll vegetation compared to rainforest.

Question: What about the seed bank in the soil?
Answer: The concept of a seed bank has no real relevance in rainforest. Most of the seeds of rainforest plants have short viability time. Most are dispersed by animals, birds and flying-foxes. The best areas of seed germination we found was under the big figs where the flying-foxes camp. We are fortunate in having an animal horticultural service!

Question: Has a fire trial been carried out?
Answer: The biggest no no in rainforest is fire. This question raises the dichotomy between rainforest regeneration and sclerophyll forest. We did not use fire at all.

Question: Higher nutrients a problem?
Answer: These are fertile sites. If they are not, they would not produce rainforest, so high nutrients are not a problem. Not a lot of heavy agriculture upstream .

Tourism
Although a large Morton Bay Fig Tree in Santa Barbara is promoted in Sydney by the tourist industry there is no effort to promote the majestic Morton Bay Fig trees at Wingham Brush. There is a local brochure describing Wingham Brush and there are local tours but the infrastructure in town is not tied in to make money out of tourism at Wingham Brush.

Education

Question: Have the local schools had involvement in Wingham Brush?
Answer: Yes but changes in staff has meant dislocation of environmental programs.

Future Management
Still ownership remains fragmented. Ideally Wingham Brush should be a Nature Reserve under the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service but there has been political resistance to achieving this.

Question: Has the area been classified under Threatened Species Act as a threatened community?
Answer: No.

Conclusion
“It was hard to convince people that turning a green thing into a brown thing, was a good thing!”

The success of the project depended on tenacious people sticking out tedious work year after years and it must be continued as the weeds upstream still threaten Wingham Brush.

Reference

  • J D Stockard Restoration of Wingham Brush 1980 – 1996
  • Eleventh Australian Weeds Conference Proceedings

Special Thanks from Australian Association of Bush Regenerators to John Stockard for sharing his experiences.

Nancy Pallin

We found that the real world situation meant that principles that we had been taught needed to be re-evaluated. I kicked against a lot of ideals in my time at Wingham Brush and took a good deal of heat for it on the basis of representing my teams position. We are never going to return the bush back to the promised land of the Dream Time but we can do some tremendous things to keep the ecological processes going.

The major goal in rainforest restoration is gaining a weed-free canopy and closing it. Continual maintenance weeding is required to ensure native succession and the forest’s survival. The development of glyphosate application techniques for aggressive exotic vegetation formed the basis of the program’s success.

Aerial photographs in the 1960s showed the crowns of the trees to be dominanted by exotic vines, Cats Claw Creeper (Macfadyena unguis-cati), Madeira Vine (Anredera cordifolia) and Balloon Vine (Cardiospermum grandiflorum). A similar photograph taken in the mid 1980s gives an indication of the rate of canopy loss. The rainforest trees became ‘green poles’ shrouded by vines. Over times the green poles collapsed under the weight of vines and the trees died from loss of sunlight and root competition. These exotic vines have a capacity to damage rainfoest wherever they occur

Macfadyena unguis-cati has long seed pods containing winged seeds and grows well in heavy shade. Its tendrils aid in climbing. In the ground is a network of tubers, from the surface to about 1 metre below, intertwined about the roots of the trees, a tuber developed every half metre along the roots of the vine. When we began the restoration program under the auspicies of the National Trust we tried to dig these networks of tubers out of the ground. It was impossible as the cut roots and tubers kept resprouting.

We resorted to herbicides. Joan Bradley, herself a chemist, recommended we try a number of them. We chose Roundup for a number of reasons, the primary one being that it killed cats claw creeper. We cut the stems, bundled them and painted the herbicide into the cut stems. One slide showed 586 stems, counted by the team at the time, encircling a rainforest tree trunk.

Anredera cordifolia dominated areas with high light levels. We realised that although we could hand weed the forest floor, we also had to remove the vines from the canopy to allow the rainforest tree seedlings, which came up in their thousands, to have enough light to survive. When we cut Anredera we found that the aerial tubers, sometimes in great football sized masses, stayed viable for up to 11 years. A heavy hail storm which defoliated much of the Brush assisted by knocking down most of the suspended tubers. On the soil surface we counted 1500 tubers per square metre. These we raked into piles and sprayed. Tubers in the ground were still sprouting after 10 years of intensive spraying.

Question: How often was Anredera sprayed?

Answer: About every 4 weeks for most of the year, using all kinds of concentrations at various times.

Tradescantia albiflora carpeted the ground up to 60cm deep and prevented the emergence of most seedlings, native or weed species. Dense carpets of Tradescantia were sprayed, most effectively in late autumn and winter. We found that by leaving the Tradescantia as a weed mat, seedlings of Macfadyena died in it and by the second year following the removal of this vine from the canopy, all seed on the ground had rotted. This cut maintenance dramatically.

Question: Did the blanket spraying knock out many native seedlings?

Answer: Yes, a few but the real question is whether they were significant ecologically. We constantly had to weigh up our strategies in terms of winning this particular battle or the whole war. The project was like a war against weeds. I learned that rainforest seedlings below 100mm in height had little chance of survival. Once they grew past that stage they survived all sorts of stresses.

Question: Did you vary your strategy according to the depth of the Tradescantia?
Answer: Absolutely. If the canopy was providing lots of shade and there were ferns and other groundcover natives we treated the area differently, using hand weeding and more selective spraying.

Cardiospermum is a weed of the rainforest edges. Curtains of this vine consisted of many small stems woven together to form a dense, impenetrable curtain which collapsed the forest edges inward. Following cutting of these vines with brushhooks and spraying of sprouting stems and seedlings, the rainforest canopy grew out toward the light. Spraying and hand weeding of seedlings has continued for 11 years after the vines were removed from the canopy, the numbers of seedlings decreasing with time.

The most exciting time was in the early stages of the project when we ‘rescued’ living trees from under the vines, enabling them to survive. The vines we laid on the ground and sprayed. The strangled stems of the trees developed shoots, soon forming canopies which in turn shaded the ground. Many of these trees were mature phase species.

Question: Did these surviving trees suffer from sunburn.
Answer: Surprisingly, No. Once they get about 1 metre in height they are very tough compared with seedlings which die very easily.
The higher the light levels the more regeneration – both native species and weeds. Early in the project we found ‘tobacco’ (Solanum mauritianum), a South American soft-wooded colonisor, to be a useful nursery plant for seedlings but later removed it and used transplanted seedlings of Stinging Tree (Dendrocnide spp). which quicky grew into substantial trees providing projecting canopy which suppressed weeds. White Cedar and sandpaper fig also came up in the gaps.

Exotic trees presenting a long term management problem, such as Camphor laurels (Cinnamomum camphora) were cut and milled by a local timber contractor yielding a net profit of $A 1467 for the project.

Joining the Brush together
The remnant rainforest was divided into three portions by two unsealed roads with powerlines and dissected by an additional vehicular track. One portion is owned by the Department of Education and the other two by the Department of Land and Water Conservation and is under the control of the local Council (Taree City Council). Robin Buchanan’s original work on edge-effects led us to the view that the three little pieces needed to be joined into one. There were a series of small steps to accomplish that first objective to join the pieces into one and these have finally been achieved after 14 years.

Fencing
A bicentennial grant enabled Wingham Brush to be fenced, preventing rubbish dumping and controlling movement of the public through the Brush. The post and rail fences along the tracks through the brush worked well except for occasional vandalism. Interpretive signs have been erected.

Flood, drought and frost
One of the big problems of working in Wingham Brush was floods. For miles upstream the river banks of the valley are choked with weeds such as Tradescantia and as the project progressed we became ever more mindful that we were keeping a small island clear in this sea of weeds. Floods bring weeds right into the middle of the reserve.

The high velocity zones of the river bank presented problems. Bush Tobacco (Solanum mauritianum), which has shallow roots, was taken out by floods resulting in erosion between the rainforest and the river. The perimeter fence got dragged out and it knocked out many trees and shrubs. This zone contained some Waterhousea floribunda, Tristaniopsis laurina and Callistemon viminalis. These species form a different sub-alliance and the zone has now been planted with them.

The worst frost in 25 years (1995) froze many young trees to the ground.

From 1991 to 1995 Wingham Brush was increasingly affected by drought which thinned the canopy and stressed the trees. In 1995, probably due to the drought there was a huge influx of Little Red Flying-foxes (Pteropus scapulatus) which stayed for 3 months devastating the mid canopy throughout the rainforest. Wingham Brush is vulnerable to the effects of droughts and frosts. This is the reason for it being the southern limit of this type of rainforest.

Flying-foxes
Wingham spent 70 years trying to kill off flying-foxes. However, despite all the virus business, no negative letters about flying-foxes have been seen for a long time. It was an advantage to the Brush that we were able to link in with the people concerned about flying-fox conservation, raising awareness of their importance.

Wingham Brush is an important maternity camp for Grey-headed Flying-foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus). The resident population varies widely from year to year according to the availability of Eucalyptus blossom. Flying-foxes transport the seeds of a wide range of rainforest plants, up to 40 km, between camps connecting isolated remnants to other rainforest gene pools.

Question: Did the flying-foxes like the removal of the vines from the trees?
Answer: Yes after the vines were removed the flying-foxes had much more roosting space. They used to always congregate on the north side of the Brush and now occupy a larger part of it because the removal of the exotic vines has allowed the trees to develop canopies which provide more roosting space..

The large figs provide lots of roosting space without much impact from the flying-foxes but the animals strip the leaves from other species such as Stinging Tree (Dendrocnide excelsa), thinning the canopy and allowing light to the ground. The influx of Little Red Flying-foxes caused major canopy damage because the animals cluster together, breaking branches. These flying-foxes usually visit for up to 6 weeks and the damage to the canopy repairs within a year. However, careful maintenance is needed to prevent weeds proliferating in these canopy gaps.

Little Red Flying-foxes visit periodically. During the drought in ’94-’95, a population of 400,000 followed 4 years of drought. The Brush took 2 years to recover compared with 1 year following previous visits usually of a couple of months.

Fungi
John showed beautiful photographs of a wide range of fungi found in Wingham Brush. They are the big recyclers of dead wood. The diversity of species and continuing occurrence at the Brush indicates that fears that herbicide is detrimental to them are unfounded.

Brush Turkeys
Brush turkeys were brought in, without any consultation. They are popular with tourists.

Question: Do they spread Tradescantia around?
Answer: They rake up all the vegetation into big mounds and do a good job in collecting and composting the Tradescantia and Anredera tubers.

Sclerophyll vs. Rainforest regeneration
Some questions highlighted the differences in perspective of bush regenerators working in sclerophyll vegetation compared to rainforest.

Question: What about the seed bank in the soil?
Answer: The concept of a seed bank has no real relevance in rainforest. Most of the seeds of rainforest plants have short viability time. Most are dispersed by animals, birds and flying-foxes. The best areas of seed germination we found was under the big figs where the flying-foxes camp. We are fortunate in having an animal horticultural service!

Question: Has a fire trial been carried out?
Answer: The biggest no no in rainforest is fire. This question raises the dichotomy between rainforest regeneration and sclerophyll forest. We did not use fire at all.

Question: Higher nutrients a problem?
Answer: These are fertile sites. If they are not, they would not produce rainforest, so high nutrients are not a problem. Not a lot of heavy agriculture upstream .

Tourism
Although a large Morton Bay Fig Tree in Santa Barbara is promoted in Sydney by the tourist industry there is no effort to promote the majestic Morton Bay Fig trees at Wingham Brush. There is a local brochure describing Wingham Brush and there are local tours but the infrastructure in town is not tied in to make money out of tourism at Wingham Brush.

Education

Question: Have the local schools had involvement in Wingham Brush?
Answer: Yes but changes in staff has meant dislocation of environmental programs.

Future Management
Still ownership remains fragmented. Ideally Wingham Brush should be a Nature Reserve under the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service but there has been political resistance to achieving this.

Question: Has the area been classified under Threatened Species Act as a threatened community?
Answer: No.

Conclusion
“It was hard to convince people that turning a green thing into a brown thing, was a good thing!”

The success of the project depended on tenacious people sticking out tedious work year after years and it must be continued as the weeds upstream still threaten Wingham Brush.

Reference

  • J D Stockard Restoration of Wingham Brush 1980 – 1996
  • Eleventh Australian Weeds Conference Proceedings

Special Thanks from Australian Association of Bush Regenerators to John Stockard for sharing his experiences.

Nancy Pallin