CURRENT fuel reduction and habitat restoration in the Lower Cotter Catchment and Blue Range area will reduce fire hazard and increase biodiversity. 

The restoration work began after the 2003 fires blazed into Canberra and destroyed all the “Pinus radiata” or rather, “Monterey pine”, in the Lower Cotter Catchment.

Ever since then, several steep and inaccessible areas with thick pine regeneration are being treated so that any fire hazard in the future is minimal.

Director of ACT Parks and Conservation Daniel Iglesias says: “The pine removal will be done using a variety of methods identified through conducting a 21 hectare trial.

“The methods that have proved to be the most successful are a combination of removal with a bulldozer on the gradual slopes and removal using an excavator on Fortis skid steer tracks and with a mulching head on steeper slopes and ecologically sensitive areas.”

Areas that are unsafe for mechanical removal will be accessed and cleared by hand felling.

The trial tested the impact on the water quality in the Cotter but no significant erosion or sedimentation occurred from the removal techniques.

Iglesias says: “It is also significant that the methods of removal we will be employing will allow the majority of native vegetation to remain intact.

“The stocking rate of eucalypts still standing is typical of an open woodland which will provide many benefits including a seed source for future revegetation and provide wildlife habitat.”

Approximately 69 hectares of re-growth pines are scheduled for removal from the Lower Cotter Catchment in 2016-17 with a further 87 hectares in 2017-18 and 71 hectares in 2018-19.