Birds, frogs and sunset walks: how a wetlands project transformed the NSW town of Goulburn
Halfway between the Big Merino, which stands like a sentinel on the Hume highway, and a supermax prison is a place known only by a few.
Here, less than a kilometre to the east of Goulburn’s main street, is the music of birds twittering in trees, the splash of ducks diving, the ponk-ponkponk of frogs in conversation, and the heady smell of eucalyptus.
If a healthy landscape is one where birdsong is often heard, then the Goulburn wetlands must be one healthy landscape indeed, which is remarkable considering it is only 10 years old – and not long ago this part of New South Wales was facing a water crisis.
It was formed out of clay pits once used by brickworks that closed just after the second world war. For much of the most recent drought, the wetlands were just a hole in the ground.
But heavy rain last year and again this spring and summer brought an abundance of water. The regeneration plantings are thriving to the point that banks of wattles and eucalyptus are up to eight metres high.
For local people in the know, this is the place to walk your dog in the evening, catch another glorious pink-andorange sunset, and, of course, see birds paddling about in search of a meal.
Friends and Residents of Goulburn Swamplands (Frogs) is a small, volunteer-run organisation that cares for and maintains the wetlands on a weekly basis. They have counted 130 different bird species.
Birdwatcher Frank Antram says the list of birds includes the blue-billed duck, which is noted as a vulnerable species, and the ruddy turnstone, which visits from the NSW south coast.
It even includes the Latham’s snipe, which flies all the way from eastern Russia and the Japanese islands, and is protected by the Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement.
Human visitors can enjoy three timber-and-iron bird hides as kangaroos laze on the nearby grasslands and snakes lurk among the groundcover.
President of Frogs, Heather West, also a retired primary school teacher, says people have been drawn to the wetlands during the Covid-19 pandemic – and had more time to get in touch with nature.
“People have been out walking, whereas before [lockdown] they were busy driving here and there to do various activities,” West says. “They’ve discovered that there are some really nice things to see.”
The link between wetlands and human health is well established. A global report by the Ramsar convention on wetlands in 2018 said they were critical to human and plant life.
More than a billion people depend on wetlands for a living and 40% of the world’s species live and breed in wetlands, the global wetland outlook said. Wetlands also mitigate floods, provide food and resources, protect coastlines and play an important role in cultural and spiritual wellbeing.
But the value of these ecosystems remains largely unrecognised by policymakers around the world, secretary general of the Ramsar convention, Martha Rojas Urrego, said in the outlook. “The result is that 35% of wetlands, where data is available, have been lost since 1970, at a rate three times greater than that of forests.”
The Australian government acknowledges the vulnerability of wetlands to climate change and Australia is a party to the Ramsar treaty for the conservation of wetlands, but some say more needs to be done to protect them.
Water crisis sparks idea
Bill Wilkes has been a member of Frogs since its early days. As is the way in regional areas, he is involved in other community organisations, including the Goulburn Group, whose members believe urgent action on climate change is needed.
Wilkes says the idea for the Goulburn
wetlands arose from various community discussions, most of which focused on water. It’s not surprising, considering the town almost ran out of water in 2005 during the millennium drought.
Since then, the project has received funding from a variety of sources, including local, state, and federal governments, as well as organisations such as Rotary. But mostly it is a result of hard, physical work.
The masterplan, which aimed to recreate a sample of habitats that are thought to have once existed in the region, was also key to the success of the Goulburn wetlands. Seeds from the surrounding area are collected for the wetlands under a partnership with the Australian Plants Society’s local branch.
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“Because we use plants that have local provenance, we have a 90% success rate,” West says.
“When we first started planting, we over-planted because we thought we’d lose 50% of them over summer. These days, we water them when they go in, and we never water them again.”
‘A very different world’
Another key to the wetlands’ success has been maintaining a network of like-minded groups, including ornithologists, the local branch of the Field Naturalists Society, the local council and a nearby bushfire brigade, which helped to burn the site before regeneration could take place.
The mayor of Goulburn Mulwaree, Bob Kirk, speaks enthusiastically about the wetlands, saying “it changes the focus” of the community.
“We have high levels of sporting participation, but kids are growing up in a very different world to what their parents did, and what I did. With facilities like the wetlands around to interest them, to educate them, they will pass that on to others.”
Goulburn MP Wendy Tuckerman says she would “love to see even more investment in the wetlands” to support the “fantastic biodiversity and conservation efforts” already undertaken by Frogs.
So what does West see in the wetlands’ future? She says the aim is to get the wetlands to “manage itself”.
“We know the gum trees are going to fall into the ponds and the wattles are going to die after 15 years. Some gums will be bigger than others and new ones will come up. And the grasses will reseed. So it should just keep on keeping on.”
West is interrupted by two women walking a dog. They ask if she and her band of volunteers are responsible for the wetlands. West confirms that is the case.
“Thank you,” beam the dog walkers. “We appreciate it so very much.”
Nigel Featherstone is an author and freelance writer based in the southern tablelands of NSW.
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