Planting Program
Our planting program is anchored in the ‘3 Rs’ of bush rehabilitation: retention, regeneration and revegetation.
Extreme ecological degradation in this part of the Yarra corridor means we are prioritising revegetation. The terrain’s resilience means we are able to combine this with retaining and supporting existing vegetation and encourage regeneration, while gradually restoring land.
Weed Management
The Yarra corridor in Abbotsford has been colonised by highly invasive weeds after 150 years of land clearance, degradation and neglect. They’ve thwarted natural regeneration and ad-hoc replanting efforts. If the river corridor is to rehabilitate successfully, we must eradicate noxious species and control others with coordinated, long-term management We’re tackling this through weeding and monitoring progress on a rotating basis across selected areas. This is the foundation for long-term weed management.
Strategic planning and management
We’ve boldly set out to harness our community’s love for our Yarra riverscape and fragmented activity for strategic, powerful and lasting action that transforms this promising terrain into a healthy riparian corridor. Our core volunteer team is doing this through flexible planning and activities, supported by respectful partner relationships, smart resource use and funding. Our planning and management are grounded in strategic policy and good management practice.
Documents:
Abbotsford Riverbankers Strategic Plan 2019-23.pdf
President's Report 2020
Mark and Map: Citizen Science
We’re blessed with citizen scientists around us, exploring and sharing pics of our local habitat. We’re harnessing this to help us identify plants, animals and fungi along the Yarra in Abbotsford and map it to the Atlas of Living Atlas. This information helps us better manage our rehabilitation activities. We’re using the latest Citizen Science evaluation rubrics to do this effectively. It’s about a whole community of Riverbankers connecting deeper with the Yarra, helping protect our river corridor.
Become an Abbotsford Riverbanker member
Help transform the Yarra River in Abbotsford into a thriving river corridor