Save Our Swamps

The 'Save our Swamps' (SOS) program is an innovative biodiversity restoration project working to restore, protect and enhance the Federally and State listed Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone (THPSS) Endangered Ecological Communities (EECs) in the Blue Mountains, as well as mentoring partner Councils to protect them on a regional landscape scale across most of their natural range.

Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone are biodiversity hotspots, supporting 10 nationally endangered threatened species and 3 state listed swamp EECs, and play a key role in maintaining the hydrological cycle through their capacity to store, regulate and filter water flows into downstream creek and river systems. They are increasingly at risk of being degraded by a number of key threatening processes including stormwater induced channelisation and dewatering, sedimentation, invasive weeds, unauthorised access tracks, aquifer dewatering from subsurface mining and tunnelling activities and the long term affects of climate change.

Blue Mountains City Council (BMCC) has acted as the lead agency in building the capacity of 3 partner Councils and their communities, state agencies, and other landholders and land managers to deliver high quality conservation and restoration outcomes protecting these swamp systems and their associated threatened species using innovative soft engineering swamp rehabilitation techniques and a whole-of-catchment approach to dealing with source point threats.

Since the Save Our Swamps program inception the project has led to:

• Over 30ha of Blue Mountains Swamp undergoing bush regeneration
• Over 50ha of vulnerable downslope Swamp areas protected.
• Over 600m of channellised swamp treated with soft engineering swamp rehydration structures. Substantial soft engineering works have been undertaken in 25 swamp systems covering over 2000ha. This has involved the construction of major check dams, extensive channel packing, water spreading and construction of chains of ponds. The benefits of these works have been immediate with water held within the swamp systems, moderation of flows, and lateral rehydration of swamp substrates.
• 11,825 endemic swamp plants planted.
• 2.5km of tracks have either been closed and rehabilitated or stabilized with soil conservation works impacting negatively on Swamp communities.
• 29 Community and Agency Capacity Building workshops.
• 600 primary and high school students learning about swamps.
• Swampcare initiated under the existing Bushcare banner involving event based work days where volunteers spend a day at a particular swamp doing targeted works. This may involve targeting a specific weed species or installing soft engineering structures in drainage lines. Over 10,000 volunteer hours have been provided.
• Swampwatch – a new community based engagement program where volunteers participate in monitoring hanging swamps including Giant Dragonfly and Blue Mountains Skink monitoring programs and a community groundwater monitoring program where local residents monitor the groundwater levels, groundwater quality and send samples away to be analysed for stygofauna (groundwater macroinvertebrates).
• Community awareness raising and education resources developed including Swamp fact sheet and poster series, a primary and secondary school Swamp educational kit, a regional swamp website (Save Our Swamps)  for volunteers, community members and professionals containing maps, fact sheets and the newly developed  'Soft-Engineering Solutions for Swamp Remediation – a 'How to' Guide' restoration manual which provides step by step detail to restore these fragile upland swamps.
• Integration with other sections of council such as the Noxious weeds team. Council's noxious weed team has undertaken ongoing surveys of terrestrial weeds on or near swamp systems with a view to integrating noxious weed control with the SOS program. This integrated works program is complemented by community education of residents within the swamp catchment via flyers that outline works occurring, how they can be involved, and the importance of weed control on their own properties.

For more information visit http://saveourswamps.com.au/   

This item was posted in November 2011.