Parks Victoria - Annual Report 2009-10

SIGNS OF RECOVERY AT KINGLAKE NATIONAL PARKIn the 18 months since bushfires swept across thestate in February 2009, there have been encouragingsigns of recovery. At Kinglake National Park, plantsand animals are demonstrating remarkable resilience.In a damp gully a few kilometres east of MountSugarloaf, two kilometres of the blackened bush wasfenced off by park rangers just after the bushfire.Over a year later, the area is showing new life. Theswamp bush pea (Pultenaea weindorferi), a nativeplant listed as “vulnerable”, has sprouted in itsthousands.“Once all this starts flowering, the birds will comein, the insects will feed off the nectar,” says RangerTony Fitzgerald.In January, rangers spotted the first koala since thebushfires. It was a healthy young male who hadmade a long journey estimated to have been manykilometres from the nearest unburnt forest.“It was a welcome surprise to see this animal back inthe burnt forest this soon after the fire,” said Rangerin Charge, Ion Maher.Another welcome return is the song of the lyrebird,now heard throughout the park. Mr Maher said:“They were quite remarkable survivors. I rememberseeing one down near Masons Falls a couple of weeksafter the fire.”For the fire affected area of Kinglake, the mostimportant unburnt linking forests are aroundToolangi and south to St Andrews andChristmas Hills.To help more native animals return to the park,thousands of native trees and grasses have beenplanted at St Andrews. An 80-hectare former dairyfarm was planted with 7,000 eucalypts and 11,000understorey species and then fenced to protect themfrom browsing animals.“For a lot of people the recovery of natural areas isvery important in their own recovery,” Mr Fitzgeraldsaid. “When the first trees started to sprout, the firstgrasses started to flower and the first birds started tobe heard in the forest again, there’s no doubt that fora lot of people that was very uplifting.”Parks Victoria - Annual Report 2009-10 37