Transcript for Ecological Reserve 10 Year Anniversary

[On-screen text: 10^th anniversary of opening the Ecological Reserve. Victorian Desalination Project]

[Drone footage including aerial shots of the reserve and desalination plant]

Julien Tauvry: I am Julien Tauvry, Plant Director for Watersure, the operator of the Victorian Desalination Plant.

The Ecological Reserve is a key component of this project. The reserve opened in 2013.

[On-screen text: December 2012]

Julien: Before the project, the area was actually degraded land, so it was paddock mostly.

[On-screen text: February 2024]

Julien: The idea behind this project was to restore this area the way it was before it's been cleared for agriculture purposes.

The community visiting the Reserve are very varied. We have bird watching groups, fauna enthusiast groups, horse riding groups.

[On-screen text: Peter Bland, Seahorse Ride / Wattle Bank Park Farm]

[Footage of Peter Bland and another person sitting on horses riding around the reserve]

Peter Bland: I run the equine program at Waddle Bank Farm, and we love using the reserve.

It's just a brilliant area to ride. It's quiet, it's comfortable, it's diverse. We love bringing the horses and the people down here.

I love the fact that it's like a real open space. You've got people going for a run and a walk, a bush walk and bike rides.

It's just a great circuit to ride through this area and just see such a change from the swamp land over the back there and then more open over here on the east.

There's always like so much wildlife around wallabies, kangaroos, echidnas and wombats.

Simone: The reserve has been helpful in terms of providing habitat for our wildlife and in particular for, wombats.

Hi, I'm Simone and I volunteer with Rescue to Release Inc, and Mange Management.

Wombats are very territorial. They're also very habitual and tend to return to the same area at the same time.

[Footage of Simone showing a wombat burrow]

On their little diary schedules, they like to dig their burrows into the side of a hill or under some bushes. So, there are plenty of appropriate places for them to, to dig their burrows.

Julien: I think my favourite spot is one of the oldest part of the eco-reserve, which is where the trees are the highest, which is where we have also reintroduced koalas in a native environment with the local community group.

Sue Moore: I'm Sue Moore from Tarwin Lower Bass Coast, South Gippsland Wildlife Rescue Shelter. We rescue all animals and wildlife.

I've released 3 baby koalas here because there are no koalas in this area. There's not many of them here, so it gives them a bit of a breeding area. They just leaped up the tree, looked down and said see ya later, mum - I'm free now. So, it is great to release them.

It's a great plantation. It really is. Nearly all their trees, they're planted are good for all our wildlife and possums to koalas and that sort of thing.

Julien: The ecological reserve is 225 hectares, one of the largest restoration project ever undertaken in Victoria and includes more than 2.5 million plants, shrubs and trees that have been selected from 127 native species in collaboration with local seed bank group and other members of the community.

Sue: So, I've been walking around the reserve for the full 10 years that the reserve has been here. It's been wonderful over that 10-year time to see how much the vegetation has just flourished.

Julien: So, the local school, do use the ecological reserve to look at biodiversity, to understand how a restoration project can work, what are the native species, how you can protect the environment now and for the future.

[On-screen text: Victoria State Government. Energy Environment and Climate Action.

Water.vic.gov.au/eco-reserve]