ANDREW Shaw says he is "not a quintessential farmer". A more accurate view might be that you won't find many coal mine workers like him in the Hunter Valley.
After 25 years of driving bulldozers and other heavy mine machinery, Mr Shaw has lately been trying to redress some of the damage by revegetating parts of his farm block.
"I love living out here in the bush, but I'm guilty by association in destroying it," Mr Shaw said at his parent's land at McCully's Gap near Muswellbrook.
"You go out (to the mine) and it's a moonscape ... it's even worse than a desert because a desert's got life in it."
Mr Shaw has been working with Stepping Stones, a program that supports farmers keen to replant parts of their land with local species to create wildlife corridors across the landscape.
The five-year effort is a remnant of the carbon tax scrapped by the Abbott government in 2014. The tax was funding biodiversity programs, including $2.3 million to support replanting efforts in the Great Eastern Ranges.
Ecologically, the Upper Hunter is of unusual significance. The Great Dividing Range running from Queensland to Victoria takes a bit of bend in the area, allowing coastal species to make a westward advance and wildlife normally found in western NSW to extend well to the east.
Although surrounded by the Goulburn River, Wollemi and Barrington Tops national parks, the once-rich woodlands on the plains were largely cleared for farming. Huge coal mines – existing and proposed – could finish off much of what's left.
Kirsten McKimmie, project manager of Stepping Stones, aims to get more farmers to emulate Mr Shaw.
Farmers sign a 10-year "goodwill agreement", setting aside a part of their land for rows of indigenous trees and shrubs – usually planted by teams of volunteers, often foreign tourists.
Landholders get shade and shelter plants that also serve as windbreaks, while limiting erosion and halting further fragmentation of nature.
"Fragmented habitat reduces resilience in wildlife to survive in the face of change," Ms McKimmie said. "Recourses are limited, genetic diversity is reduced, feral species pressure becomes increased and connectivity is highly reduced."
The five-year project will replant 452 hectares with 90,400 plants and protect a further 905 hectares and 21 kilometres of creeks. So far, 118 landholders have signed up.
"The bang for the buck has been fantastic," said Muswellbrook Shire mayor Martin Rush.
Richard French, a part-time farmer and pharmacist, has set aside about 10 per cent of his 93 hectares.
The cost of fencing off the rows of plants from his cattle was about $20,000, of which $6000 was reimbursed, he said.
"I don't want to sound overly pious," Mr French said, "But one day I'd like to be able to look (at my future grandchildren) in the face and say that I made some effort."
Tom Clarke, a Newcastle-based birdwatcher tapped by the program to set a baseline to monitor progress, said the re-appearance of birds such as speckled warblers, robins and wood sparrows would be an indication that the program was succeeding.
Aggressive edge-dwelling birds, such as noisy miners, will continue to have an advantage over threatened species unless restored areas eventually expand, he said.
"You've got to start somewhere" he said. "I hope each stepping stone is allowed to grow in size and link together ultimately, and then it will work."
- This story first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald
