Last month’s tour of the Pollack and a similar site within Koondrook Perricoota forest hosted by Western Murray Land Improvement Group (WMLIG) attracted over 45 attendees from Barham and surrounds, some making the trip from as far as Deniliquin, Moama, and Kerang. The purpose of the tour was to demonstrate the positive effects that managed environmental watering has had in the Pollack, to raise awareness of the current poor condition of the broader Koondrook Perricoota (KP) Forest, and to lead a bottom-up community-led approach for a shared vision of the forest.

The tour included three stops: the Pollack Swamp Inlet, the Pollack Lagoon, and lastly the KP Smokehouse Lagoon. The tour began at The Ark, with Barapa Barapa elder Ron Galway performing a Welcome to Country. Tour presenters for the day included Environmental Consultant Dan Hutton, fish expert Dr John Conallin, Australia National University Researcher and Anthropologist Dr Colin Pardoe, and Forestry Corporation of NSW’s Jean Dind.

The Pollack, a 700ha wetland within the Koondrook State Forest is located 10 minutes north of Barham. In the last 6 years, the area has been exposed to regular controlled inundation. This managed flooding is facilitated by irrigation channels via the Bringan Irrigation Trust Infrastructure surrounding the area. In this time, Hutton, Conallin, and a team including Moama Local Aboriginal Land Council staff, local Landcare and community members have worked to improve its ecological condition.

Upon reaching the first site, a swamp inlet leading into the Pollack Lagoon, Hutton set the tone for the day stating that community “Can have an impact on decision making but need to act, and act immediately.” He spoke beneath a growing canopy of river red gum, which he pointed out had improved dramatically since they started on the project, providing suitable cover for waterbird nesting. The swamp beneath the canopy now has an excellent diversity of native water plants, and improved water quality each year. The water has “a dissolved oxygen level of eight” which is considered excellent. This in turn provides suitable habitat for small native fish and other aquatic species.

The swamp has proved the most successful in the KP for waterbird breeding post the 2016 flood. Working to improve the biodiversity and food source within the swamp, Hutton and his team saw it attract many species back to the area. Pointing into the distance he recounted seeing two to three nests of different species appearing on each tree. Responding to a question about what is breeding this year, he listed what he calls the “normal” breeders, white-necked herons, white-faced herons, Nankeen night herons, half a dozen duck species and for the third year in a row a pair of Little Bitterns.

Upon approaching the second stop, the Pollack Lagoon, Dr Conallin was already in the water dragging out two large nets that had been set up overnight. The nets, which were visibly heavy to carry, were filled with small-bodied native fish. Gudgeons, rainbow fish, tadpoles, even turtles and yabbies were pulled out. There were no alien fish such as carp or Mosquito Fish to be seen: one of the benefits of building up a carnivorous small-bodied fish population. Another notable absence were the mosquitos, predated upon by these native species.

Benefitting from good light penetration, the lagoon allows for aquatic vegetation to thrive. This circulates a high amount of oxygen back into the water, aiding fish and other water species including vegetation. A revegetation project last year involved transplanting native vegetation such as pin rush, giant spike rush and cumbungi to the lagoon. Deniliquin resident Roseanne Farrant shared that a similar project had been conducted on the banks of the Edward River, where the community has transplanted 8km of aquatic vegetation.

The amount of biomass collected from the lagoon demonstrated the ecological richness of the area which would have been present when the local Indigenous population was living in its surrounds. Dr Pardoe provided insight into what life may have been like 4,000 years ago for the Barapa Barapa and Yorta Yorta population that inhabited the area. “They would have been collecting whitebait and tuber to eat. Perhaps using cumbungi to make flour, collecting clay for heat retaining bricks…it would have been far clearer [referring to physical area], and children would have played in these open spaces”.

The third and final stop was the KP Smokehouse Lagoon. The lagoon is currently empty and there was no wildlife in sight. The group gathered in a circle, sharing their experiences from decades past of coming down to the site for a swim or fish. The feeling of nostalgia and sadness was a stark contrast to the distinct feeling of excitement amongst the group at the earlier visited Pollack Lagoon, which demonstrated the possibility and resource that lies at the doorstep of so many.

The group discussed solutions to a complex issue. The tree overcrowding and extensive woody debris on the forest floor in the KP was a topic of concern for community and KP team alike. A few suggested firstly clearing of some trees, and then the forest floor by way of low intensity backburning. There was a degree of caution around broadscale flooding of the area, many citing hypoxic black water events and other issues that arise with making dramatic environmental changes. Providing some insight from over the border, Cohuna resident Dianne Pearce praised the work of the Pollack Project Team.

Overall, the community vision was to see the forest stay local and to make the KP better than it is now for the future generations. All supported a community-led approach to revitalise the KP but felt that the broader community need to get involved if there was to be transformational or tangible change. It was suggested for example that pockets of refugia could be created to maintain resilience for short-lived native species that have become locally extinct in the KP Forest except for the Pollack Swamp.

There was resounding support from the group that there was need to create a louder collective community voice to support groups already making an impact. One such group is the Koondrook Perricoota Alliance, made up of landholders, Indigenous community, and local stakeholders. It was suggested that this could be done via creating smaller focus groups for individual areas of interest. Concluding the tour, Hutton stressed the urgency of the community taking control and protecting their forest. “after working on this project for the last ten years, this area will not last another ten without irreversible damage”.

Dan Hutton and Dr John Conallin are now gathering expressions of interest regarding topics for a series of upcoming Workshops. Workshops could include but are not limited to environmental watering, native fish populations, revegetation projects, camping and leisure opportunities, fishing etc. To register your interest in topics, send a message via the “Contact Us” section on WMLIG’s website www.westernmurraylig.org or call 03 5453 1577.

More photographs and some videos from the day will be available to view on the WMLIG website shortly. Community are also welcomed to drop into Murray Connect 27 Thule Street Barham to view photos.

WMLIG would like to thank local landholders, Forestry Corporation of NSW and Murray Local Land Services (Murray LLS). The tour was funded by Murray LLS through their Catchment Action NSW program.