Landmate has helped to fence a 1000 hectare refuge
This will allow the safe reintroduction of native animals such as the Eastern Banded Bandicoot, the Tiger Quoll and the Fat-tailed Dunnat in one of the last areas of native grassland on the Victorian volcanic plain.
Transcript
Video transcript – Tiverton
Length: 3.15
Tiverton Property Project
A Critical Action and Strategic Partnership Grant project
Funded by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning
Transcript begins:
Description: a close up of Tim Hill (landowner) standing in front of a high mesh fence.
Tim speaks: What we have here at Dundonald on the western plains of Victoria is a rather unique area of remnant native grasslands. One of the largest, if not the largest intact area of native grasslands remaining the Victoria volcanic plains, so it has an intrinsic value in its own right.
And so to secure this site with a predator-proof fence, that’s the style of which I’m standing beside, is to create a significant community asset that will value not just in a local context, but in a broader conservation context. In fact, this sort of approach is regarded as the best practice approach to ensuring the preservation and the successful survival of threatened species.
So we’re standing at Tiverton, Dundonald, on the western plains of Victoria, right in the heart of the volcanic plain. We’re standing on country that is remnant native grasslands so it has a real significance and in terms of the fact that over 99 percent of the grasslands on the volcanic plain has disappeared off this landscape.
So it’s a really valuable, high-value, location and we’re in the process of erecting a predator-proof fence around this site of a thousand hectares to ensure that we have a predator-free zone for the release of critically endangered species.
The species we’re talking about, like the Eastern barred bandicoot, the Tiger quoll, the fat-tailed dunnats, are a range of different marsupials that existed across this landscape pre-white settlement, pre-european settlement.
Description: still view of four Landmate crew members and a crew leader working on the predator-proof mesh fence.
Without the Landmate crews participation in this project, we would not be anywhere near as advanced as we are.
Description: Video cuts back to Tim Hill
Tim continues: Over the past nearly 12 months, I’ve had consistent support from the Landmate crews to erect this fence. It’s taken us 18 months to get to this stage. The fence is near completion now. Their contributions have been invaluable. It just couldn’t happen without them.
Yeah, I wasn’t concerned at all about having the prisoner teams on the property. I’ve participated in the Landmate exercise, historically, over 20-odd years with various activities: treeplanting, fencing of waterways and that sort of thing. So I’ve had no issues with that at all.
I’d like to believe that the program really contributes constructively to the rehabilitation of prisoners. I’ve had a number of different guys and the teams come through over the last 12 months. It’s been really satisfying for me to see them to commit themselves to work diligently and conscientiously on this project and take pride in what they’re doing. And if that helps them in rebuilding their lives, their self-esteem and their capacity to return to the community, and rebuild their lives generally, I’m all for it.
Description:
Landmate Environment logo (audio: guitar music)
Logo: Victoria State Government, Department of Justice and Regulation
Authorised by Department of Justice and Regulation, 121 Exhibition Street, Melbourne.
Transcript ends.