2025 Nursery to Nature: Wetland Planting for Restoration

Students from Conargo Public School enjoyed their outing.

Nursery to Nature: Community-Led Wetland Restoration Along Billabong Creek.

YACTAC recently coordinated the Nursery to Nature – Wetland Planting for Restoration project, an initiative focused on improving the health and resilience of local waterways through the establishment of native wetland vegetation.

Native rushes and sedges were harvested from Deniliquin Lagoon and the banks near McLeans Beach before being transported to Conargo, where they were transplanted along Billabong Creek within the Conargo Common. The extensive planting will establish a new nursery area, providing a sustainable source of vegetation for future rehabilitation projects.

Rushes and sedges play a vital role in healthy aquatic ecosystems. Their extensive root systems stabilise riverbanks, reduce erosion, improve water quality by slowing water flow and trapping sediment, and provide important habitat for native fish, frogs, birds and aquatic invertebrates. These native plants also help suppress invasive weeds by outcompeting undesirable species.

This simple, low-cost rehabilitation technique delivers long-term environmental benefits, enhancing water quality, increasing biodiversity, and improving the overall health of creek and wetland systems. YACTAC encourages landholders and community members interested in restoring sections of local waterways to get in touch to learn more about these techniques.

YACTAC extends its sincere thanks to the volunteers who generously gave their time, the students and staff from Conargo Public School for enthusiastically participating in the planting, and Transgrid for supporting the project.

Students and community members joined in to help out with the plantings.