Budgerum
Budgerum is located in the heart of the Victorian Riverina, 250 kilometres north of Melbourne. This rich grassland spreads across the vast plains alongside the Avoca River and helps protect the Critically Endangered ‘Natural Grasslands of the Murray Valley Plains’.
About Budgerum
Budgerum is located in the heart of the Victorian Riverina, 250 kilometres north of Melbourne.
This rich grassland spreads across the vast plains alongside the Avoca River and helps protect the Critically Endangered ‘Natural Grasslands of the Murray Valley Plains’. It is fringed by Woodland to the north.
Home to over 107 plant species, it includes Chariot Wheels (Maireana cheelii), Bristly Love-grass (Eragrostis setifolia), Long Eryngium (Eryngium paludosum), Veined Peppercress (Lepidium phlebopetalum), Umbrella Wattle (Acacia oswaldii) and Bush Minuria (Minuria cunninghamii) which are all considered threatened.
Budgerum’s native bird diversity includes many of the grassland species such as Little Button-quail, Australasian Pipit, Stubble Quail, Horsfield’s Bushlark, and other larger raptor species such as the Brown Goshawk, Black-shouldered Kite and Wedge-tailed Eagle.
The property also boasts suitable habitat for the critically endangered Plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus), however they haven’t officially been confirmed on the property to date.
Vulnerable fauna species include the Fat-tailed Dunnart (Sminthopsis crassicaudata), a small native carnivorous marsupial mouse, which was recorded on the property as well as supporting the security of habitat for the large and striking Tree Goanna , which has been recorded in the large Black-box trees on the edge of the grasslands.
Vegetation communities
The project features Chenopod Grassland, Plains Grassland, and Plains Savannah which are ecological vegetation classes included in the Australian Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act’s listing of Threatened Ecological Communities (TECs). These form part of the critically endangered Natural Grasslands of the Murray Valley Plains TEC.
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Chenopod Grassland
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Lignum Swampy Woodland
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Plains Grassland
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Plains Savannah
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Riverina Plains Grassy Woodland
Project Report: Budgerum
Project Report: Budgerum
Wilderlands is delighted to share our first Annual Project Report for our Budgerum project, including our day-in-the-life of our Lead Ecologist, Deanna Marshall.
Flagship Species
The project is home to a range of threatened flora species including Bristly Love-grass, Chariot Wheels, Fuzzy New Holland Daisy, Umbrella Wattle, Veined Peppercress and many more.
Fat-tailed Dunnart and Tree Goanna are among the threatened fauna species recorded on the property, and it also boast suitable habitat for the critically endangered Plains-wanderer although they haven’t officially been confirmed on the property to date.
Fat-Tailed Dunnart
Sminthopsis crassicaudata
Fat-tailed Dunnarts are threatened in Victoria. These small nocturnal marsupials are primarily insectivorous, preying on a variety of small invertebrates, including insects and spiders. Fat-tailed Dunnarts have a distinctive adaptation where they store fat in their tails. This acts as an energy reserve, allowing them to survive periods when food is scarce.
Fat-tailed Dunnarts predominantly inhabit sparse grassland and open shrubland habitats with a significant component of bare ground. Suitable nest sites include cavities in cracking clay soils or underneath fallen timber.
Chariot Wheels
Maireana cheelii
Chariot Wheels is a small chenopod forb, up to 20cm, that gets its common name from the unique wheel-like fruiting bodies it produces over summer. Chariot Wheels are adapted to survive in harsh conditions, developing a long tap root to store energy and enable survival through extended dry periods. Sometimes they die back to the taproot, only to re-sprout again when conditions are more favourable. Chariot Wheels is a threatened species in Australia and Victoria. Conservation efforts are critical for this species, as its populations continue to be severely impacted by land clearance and habitat degradation.
Veined Peppercress
Lepidium phlebopetalum
The Veined Peppercress (Lepidium phlebopetalum), is a native plant species endemic to Australia. This small herbaceous plant is characterised by its distinctive veined leaves and tiny white flowers.
Native insects, including bees, wasps, flies, butterflies and moths, may use this plant for nectar and as a host for their larvae, making it an integral part of the food system. Veined Peppercress is a threatened species in Victoria. Conservation efforts are critical for this species, as its populations continue to be severely impacted by land clearance and habitat degradation.
Conservation Partner
The Budgerum project is owned and managed by Cassinia Environmental.
The property, owned and managed by Wilderlands’ conservation partner, Cassinia Environmental, is now operating as a dedicated conservation reserve, protected under a Conservation Covenant made under the Victorian Conservation Trust Act 1972 (Vic) and administered by Trust for Nature.
Wilderlands have selected Cassinia Environmental as our conservation partner across a number of projects given their deep expertise in managing land for conservation outcomes.
Over the past 20 years they have delivered over 100 landscape scale projects across four states for a diverse range of stakeholders, including State and Federal Governments, international corporations, NGOs, and Traditional Owners.
Monitoring
Wilderlands undertake various monitoring activities throughout the year.
These activities include standardised bird surveys, quadrats, transects, and the ‘golf ball methodology for grasslands’ which are designed to help assess the grassland cover and structure, photopoint monitoring, as well as deployment of remote cameras and acoustic monitors and spotlighting.
Photopoints
Transects
Golf ball quadrats
Spotlighting
Acoustic monitoring
A day in the life of our Lead Ecologist
A day with Deanna
To celebrate International Day of Biological Diversity we're shining a light on a superstar of our team Deanna Marshall and documenting a day-in-the-life of our Lead Ecologist.
Biological Diversity Units (BDU’s)
How do Wilderlands Create Biodiversity Credits?
At the Budgerum site, one Biological Diversity Unit (BDU) equates to one square meter of land permanently protected to maintain and enhance the integrity of its biological diversity.
Budgerum is also a registered credit site on the Victorian Native Vegetation Credit Register (NVCR).
Cassinia Environmental, the Budgerum landowner, voluntarily “retires” these statutory compliance units, so they can’t be used as a compliance offset. Wilderlands then geotags each unit and registers the now “voluntary” units on the independently managed Vegetation Link registry – effectively creating the Biological Diversity Units. When you purchase these units, each purchase is linked to a Certificate of Sale issued by Vegetation Link.
Periodic inspections of the property are conducted by Trust for Nature (Victoria), with additional monitoring conducted by Wilderlands Ecologists.
Gallery
What's happening
Project Report: Budgerum
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Budgerum
In the heart of the Victorian Riverina, one of the most productive areas of agriculture in Australia and only 250 kilometres north of Melbourne, lies Budgerum, a farming district of flat, grassy plains alongside the Avoca River. Grassland communities are some of the most highly threatened ecosystems on the planet, with grassland reserves being reduced to small, fragmented patches across the landscape as land has been converted to agriculture. For this reason, protection of the remaining native grasslands across the Victorian Riverina is critical to the long-term survival of species that call this community their home. Examples of species dependent on these grassy ecosystems include the critically endangered Plains Wanderer and the nationally endangered Turnip Copperburr.