| Karien, Daniel and Kirsten in January 03, planting the next acre (1/2 Ha) of rainforest. |
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| The area planted in January 2004 seen in January 2005 .We have had very good weather in 2004, so there has been very good growth, aided by lots of seedlings that arose from the seed store in the ground. If only this year will be as productive! In front is the area prepared in November 04. |
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Maura and Sarah planting in the new planting area, the young trees in the foreground are blue quondong, Eleaocarpus grandis. This tree is a wonderful "focal tree" - it fruits within 4-5 years and attracts bats and birds to its load of blue fruit, and they in turn drop their seed load beneath the tree. In fact one can plant a rainforest with this species alone - but it will take time. The thick matt of dead grass is very obvious and it protects the soil from drying out as well as slowing weed growth. Besides it adds nutrients as it rots. In the distance is the the same grass that originally covered the planting site (mostly Guinea grass - Panicum maximum). |
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 | New plants for the regeneration site ready for potting out. We use clayey soil for potting, and this increases our survival rate during the inevitable hot spell that follows the first rains. |
| Stomping is our method of of preparing ground for regeneration - something we've perfected over many years. The main weed grass here is Guinea grass (Panicum maximum), introduced as a pasture grass. It grows incredibly fast (as much as a meter in a week). Some trees do manage to grow through it, but not many. We tramp the grass down in successive layers and spray glyphosphate on the leaves and especially on the base (which we kick down on to cause vascular damage). The result is a thick mulch layer, which in this environment can last for over a year, which keeps the ground moist and the weed growth suppressed. Were we to mow or plow, we'd be over whelmed with with weeds in days. This can be done on any slope. We use a 4WD on flat areas, footwork elsewhere. |
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 | Joern Ebertz showing his stomping prowess....... |
This nice load of hot poop was deposited between two of the cabins - and was promptly collected to provide planting stock for our regeneration work. | |
| Singapore Daisy (Weigelia) - all the way from Equador, is becoming a major blight in the Daintree. It is fast spreading, and smothers everything. It is a prostrate creeper, which roots at every node and can grow meters in a week. Needless to say it was introduced because it was seen as an attractive ground cover. Most of the infestations stem from fragments of plants washed down creeks from residences. We have it on beaches, roadsides,and even in some of the most precious WH conservation areas. |
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