When I first met Bruce Patterson, I was instantly fascinated by his clear vision of what he wanted to achieve on his property. Unfortunately, the previous owner removed wildlife and mature vegetation throughout the property. Bruce noticed that lack of wildlife on the property when he purchased it and immediately wanted to heal the land.
Regenerative agriculture has many forms, and in my eyes, Bruce’s property is what it is all about. In such a short timeframe (within two years) Bruce has achieved so much on his property.
You would be surprised how many times I hear Land for Wildlife members say that they have never seen a Koala on their property and that seeing a Koala on their property would be an ultimate goal. When I mentioned this to Bruce, he accepted this as a challenge. So, Bruce and I set up multiple fauna monitoring cameras throughout the property to see what species were on the property. Setting up cameras will not show you everything and with a bit of luck and sieving through thousands of images you may come across some great finds. Bruce and I were delighted by what the cameras showed on his property, including Koalas and Brush-tailed Rock Wallabies.
“Late last year, I was contracted by Scenic Rim Regional Council to complete a one-day survey on Bruce’s Land for Wildlife property at Palen Creek. Bruce is working hard on his property with an objective to restore native vegetation that will provide a corridor and buffer for fauna living in the adjacent National Park. He is currently revegetating the bare banks of his creek with local native plant species.
The survey was a good opportunity to ground-truth what plants are growing in the creek and to add them to Bruce’s planting list. Bruce wants to add diversity to the creek line and plant the species naturally occurring there.
The 12-hour survey recorded over 410 species of fauna and flora, including nearly 300 species of native plants, highlighting the diversity of this property. Due to the hot conditions (35 degrees) fauna was hard to come by during the day but we were lucky to get a picture of a female Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby and her joey. After dark, the nocturnal animals came alive with Eastern Barn Owls, Sugar and Feathertail Gliders observed. Bruce is an inspiring example of how a landholder can make positive environmental impacts in a short amount of time, and how there is always much to learn from each other.
Greg Tasney, Consultant Ecologist”
Article by Catherine Madden
Land for Wildlife Officer
Scenic Rim Regional Council