Travelling from Anglesea if you turn right up Bambra Rd, just before the bottom shops in Aireys Inlet, you travel along the edge of the Painkalac Valley, a several km stretch of floodplain and ephemeral coastal wetland. The Painkalac Creek meanders through the Valley, under a bridge across the Great Ocean Road, and flows out to the sea under the Aireys Inlet Lighthouse, although, of course, it usually actually ends at a barrier sandbar separating the creek from the ocean.
The Wadawarrung people, the local indigenous nation, were displaced long ago and the Valley was cleared for agriculture and grazing although over the past several decades large areas of the Valley, the Painkalac Nature Reserve and Mellor’s swamp, have been revegetated and restored to a much more natural state.
If you travel about 2.5km up Bambra Rd, you will come to the Painkalac Valley Wetland Rehabilitation Project. An approximately 4.4hectare (11acre) block of land purchased privately in 2018 for the purpose of re wilding. Working with local community groups, ANGAIR and AIDA, and partly funded by Australian Landcare grants administered through the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CCMA), horse grazing has ceased and over 8000 indigenous seedlings planted.
Using plant survey lists, maintained by the amazing local flora and fauna community group ANGAIR, over 60 different species known to be indigenous to the Valley have been planted. All seedlings were propagated from locally sourced seeds, this has meant that plants specifically evolved to the conditions in the Eastern Otways have been planted. This is reflected in the incredibly rapid growth we’ve seen over the past few years. The diversity of planting is crucial for insect, mammal, and bird biodiversity. We’ve also brought in local stone for reptile habitat and planted a large area of native grasses, all indigenous to the Valley. These are crucial habitat for one of the most threatened group of animals in Australia, small native mammals.
The wetland, an old ox-bow lake or billabong, has been re-established. Freed from the pressures of grazing and trampling by horses, it is now largely covered by indigenous sedges, grasses and annual wildflowers that have naturally returned to the area
This area provides an opportunity to re-establish one of the most biologically diverse and threatened habitats in Australia, coastal wetlands. The site will provide a continuum for native animals from the creek through a wide riparian area to a native grassland, ephemeral wetland and on to a dry woodland. Rehabilitating this area will not only restore the flora, but also provide habitat for birds and native animals, especially small mammals, as well as improve water quality in the Painkalac Creek. Since commencing the project Swamp rats and the threatened Swamp Antechinus have re-established themselves, the sound of frogs calling at dusk can be deafening and over 35 bird species have been observed on and around the block.
You can follow progress on this site on Instagram at: WildingtheValley
Author: Mick Loughnan