Campbells Creek

[birds chirping] What does it take to restore diversity to a profoundly altered landscape? And how do we accept and work with the novel ecosystems when there is no intact reference point to guide us? It was a real treat to sit down with one of the best restoration ecologists I know, Ian Higgins.

On a cold winter's day near Campbells Creek in Central Victoria, Ian showed me what decades of patient, thoughtful restoration can achieve.

When Ian first came to the area, there were just five individual wattles along Campbells Creek between Castlemaine and Guildford.

Today, following years of care by the Friends of Campbells Creek, there are thousands.

But the restoration effort has extended far beyond trees and shrubs.

In a grazing exclusion plot about the size of a house block, Ian has established more than a hundred indigenous plant species, including locally rare and threatened species.

It's really, yeah, great to see you.

Pleasure, Carl.