By Mikayla Van Loon
When thousands of trees fell across the Yarra Ranges, both native and non native, in 2021, efforts to replant lost habitat were determined as crucial to recovery.
For one Mount Evelyn resident and landscape gardener of 40 years, who wished to remain unnamed, the replacement of non-native trees, particularly pine, was more important than ever.
Raising concerns about the growth of pine trees on a Yarra Valley Water (YVW) property on the corner of Old Hereford and Old Gippsland Roads, the resident was worried about further damage or tree felling in another storm event.
“It was horrendous for a lot of people up in the Dandenongs and here as well. Old Gippsland Road was hit big time and other areas were really hit big time,” he said.
“What in particular was happening as well as Indigenous trees, big gums, beautiful gums, there were a lot of pines that fell, big pines that were planted a long time ago as windbreaks.
“I had two very large pines, at a guess they’d be 140 or 150 feet tall, the same size as those on the Yarra Valley Water property.”
Yarra Ranges Council identifies Pinus Radiata as an environmental weed which, where appropriate, should be removed.
“I’m conflicted because Pinus Radiata are magnificent big trees but they don’t belong here,” the Mount Evelyn resident said.
“And one problem with the confliction is the Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos love them, they’ve adapted and they love jumping on the green pines and extracting the kernels and so I feel a little bit guilty in that respect, complaining about the big pines.”
YVW distribution services general manager Bridie Fennessy said the authority took advice and guidance from local councils and arboriculturists to assess the health of trees, the environment and local wildlife.
“Ideally we’d like to be able to remove all environmental weeds from our sites and replace them with plants that are Indigenous to the local area,” she said.
“Removing large and established trees is a more complex issue to work through, as we need to also consider whether removing them will impact local wildlife that has grown reliant on them for habitat.”
Having had the pine trees on the water storage property inspected by a horticulturist, YVW found the trees to be healthy and at no risk of falling.
“We regularly assess the trees on our property to ensure there’s no risk to the community or our critical assets,” Ms Fennessy said.
Despite understanding that a tree assessment might return a result of ‘healthy’, the Mount Evelyn resident said in 2021 no one expected the direction of the wind and root systems couldn’t handle the south east gusts.
Living within a community that saw hundreds of trees fall, many in the back and front yards of residents’ homes, the Mount Evelyn resident said many people weren’t replanting due to fear.
He said there seemed to be an opportunity for YVW to help restore some of the biodiversity of the area with such a large property.
“These things [pines] really should be removed and why not have an arboretum, plant some Indigenous trees. So many Indigenous trees fell during those storms that have been falling for a long time.
“It’s all about biodiversity. We need to encourage biodiversity and without trees, without planting Indigenous trees, it’s not going to happen properly. This property in particular has got the infrastructure.”
Ms Fennessy said YVW was undertaking a number of efforts to help improve biodiversity of the Yarra Ranges area, with planting days and targets within the biodiversity plan.
“Under our biodiversity plan, we’re actively increasing the area of land that we’re protecting and restoring, and we’ve set targets to reach nearly nine hectares of our land by June 2023.
“We’re also in the process of hiring a biodiversity officer,” she said.
In two weeks, YVW alongside Zoos Victoria, Greening Australia, Melbourne Water, Jacobs and Spiire will be taking part in an Indigenous planting day at the Upper Yarra Sewage Treatment to restore habitat for the Helmeted Honeyeater and Lowland Leadbeater’s Possum.
“I don’t want to create waves.
“It’s just we’re talking about the environment. We’re talking about climate change.
“These are big issues and I’m sure these people should be on top of it and they probably are, they might have plans in place already to do something but unless government, local governments, councils are prompted, maybe it just takes too long,” the Mount Evelyn resident said.
