Low drone photo of planting rows

Koreng Noongar Country

Borden, WA

The town of Borden lies on the edge of the Stirling Range National Park in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. This area is largely affected by salt and erosion caused by the clearing of native vegetation and grazing of stock over many generations.

This 10-hectare site is part of a working farm that is experiencing declining productivity as a result of the rising water table and increased salinity. We are working alongside the team at Threshold Environmental to restore the land and test how well a variety of native trees grow and sequester carbon in varying salinity.

Since 2020, we have planted more than 28,000 salt-tolerant native seedlings across the site, including several AtriplexEucalyptus, and Melaleuca species.

We are monitoring the site annually and are very pleased with the progress so far.

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Project overview

Latest news

Group photo of 6 people smiling with seedling planters and buckets.

Infill planting

August 2023

The team from APACE WA joined Jess and Liv (CPOZ) to hand-plant an additional 4,700 seedlings across the site, targeting areas that had been washed out or had low seedling survival. The team will return in 2024 to see how these new seedlings are faring and to conduct the annual site monitoring assessment.

Woman holding tape measure among trees in planting rows

Monitoring

May 2023

Jess (CPOZ) and Liv (CPOZ) headed to site in May to conduct a second-year monitoring assessment. The results showed an overall survival rate of 77% and an average tree height of 1 metre. The tallest tree measured was a 4 metre Eucalyptus spathulata (swamp mallet).

Low drone photo of planting rows

site visit

August 2022

In August, Jess (CPOZ) and Justin Jonson (Threshold Environmental) headed to site to conduct a whole-site visual monitoring assessment. Although some seedlings had been washed out and perished, the overall survival and growth rates were pleasing,

Women crouching next to planting rows holding a clipboard.

monitoring

April 2021

The Threshold Environmental team were on-site during April 2021 to monitor the survival and growth of the seedlings. Given the extremely saline conditions, the site is showing good progress with an average stocking density of around 1,880 trees per hectare.

Borden Planting truck with plants

Planting

Winter 2020

Planting was conducted by the team at Threshold Environmental. Approximately 11,646 seedlings were hand-planted across the 10 hectare site. Luckily, recent rainfall in the area created favourable conditions for planting and seedling establishment.

Tractor ripping rows for tree planting in a bare field

SITE preparation

Autumn 2020

To reduce root system exposure to salinity, the site was mounded in rows. The topsoil was removed using a mini-V scalp unit to reduce the weed seed bank and herbicide was applied to minimise competition from weeds, providing the best chance for establishment. The area was arranged into a grid to ensure adequate spacing between seedlings.

Western Australian native seedlings in seedling trays on benches at a nursery.

Species selection

Summer 2020

A total of 14 different native species were chosen for the site including several salt-tolerant Melaleuca, Acacia, and Atriplex species. Seedling orders were placed with Parnell’s Nursery in Tincurrin. All species were specifically chosen for their biodiversity, salt-tolerance, and their ability to survive in nutrient-poor soils. The seedlings were grown out over the summer and autumn months, ready for planting in winter.

Woman bending down in bare field measuring soil salinity

Site assessment

Spring 2019

The initial site assessment was undertaken by Justin Jonson from Threshold Environmental. The goal of the assessment was to measure the chemical and physical properties of the site in order to develop a specialised species mix that would give the best chance of regenerative success. Soil testing was conducted by Justin Jonson and Freya Spencer from Gillamii Centre (pictured) to quantify the extent of salinity damage.

What we planted

Acacia

2 species
sandalwood host
short lifespan
nitrogen fixing​

Atriplex

2 species
low-lying shrub
highly salt tolerant
drought tolerant

Casuarina

1 species
salt and drought tolerant
attracts native birds
nitrogen converter

Eucalyptus

5 species
high survivability in nutrient-poor soils
fast maturing tree
utilised for canopy cover

Melaleuca

7 species
fire-adapted (for seed promotion and survival)
salt-tolerant
excellent shrubby habitat

Project gallery