Choosing herbicide-free and strategic assisted bush regeneration doesn't mean having to accept that your ecosystem will never be free of exotic plants. But you might have to accept that it won't happen in your lifetime. Holistic Habitats' long-term approach to bush regeneration sees the broader ecological picture, where we choose to change the things that we can and accept the things that we cannot.

 

I've worked as a bush regenerator since 1997 and seen extensive proliferations of exotic plants that have had impactful consequences upon the ecosystems in which they are situated. This is not to say that those consequences have been either bad or good, rather that exotic plants get labelled as 'weeds' for a reason... they can be very good at reproducing. They can establish themselves abundantly and sometimes prevent other species from thriving.

 

Let's take the common Northern Rivers tree, Camphor Laurel, as an example. There might be a forest of established trees of mixed species, both Camphors and indigenous species like Guioa, Sweet Pittosporum and Red Kamala. The long-term approach might be to continually remove Camphor seedlings and saplings by hand and mechanical aid. We might identify an area within the forest that might benefit from extra light, and then prune leader trunks off the Camphors to facilitate that happening. Our approach to the established Camphors, however, is simply to wait for them to die naturally. Camphors will probably live for approximately 100-200 years - during that time, our long-term approach continues to be control of seedlings and saplings, and promotion of the growth of indigenous species around them.

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Above: A large multi-stemmed Camphor Laurel with Moreton Bay Fig planted in the fork.  It is estimated that complete death of the tree will take 5 years.

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Adaptation to a new species entering into an ecosystem has occurred and continues to occur throughout the world. Its a natural part of evolution. If we can support an ecosystem to sustain exotic plants within it while maintaining its overall integrity and diversity, then we give it every chance to evolve towards co-operation.

 

It won't happen overnight, but it will happen.