The 3-30-300 rule

Dutch urban forest expert, Cecil Konijnendijk of the Nature Based Solutions Institute, has devised a set of guidelines to assess the bare minimum benchmark for nature in urban spaces.

The 3-30-300 rule: ‘If you look out the window can you see 3 trees?’ ‘Is there 30% canopy cover?’ ‘Do you have a park within 300m?’

Drouin's CBD English Elms provide great shade - they have canopy

Research by the RMIT University of Melbourne in collaboration with the Technical University of Munich found that most cities failed the 3-30-300 rule, particularly the 30 part.

Professor Thami Croeser of RMITs Centre for Urban Research says, “It seems like a lot of people have views to enough trees, but they're not getting enough canopy …You could possibly argue that it's a bit of a global phenomenon of too small trees in cities.”

Native Frangipani is a popular street tree native to the rainforests of northern NSW and Queensland - virtually no shade!

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts that Australia is expected to have its hottest summer yet in 2025. Studies indicate that something like 30-40% canopy cover is the minimum required to combat the effects of urban heat islands developing. Street trees with minimal canopy just don’t cut it.

The avenue of Angophoras and Mountain Grey Gums in Main South Rd cast wonderful shade all day long - helping to reduce the UHI effect

Drouin’s large canopy remnant and planted trees (eucs, oaks, planes, etc) are going to prove to be valuable in the face of global warming.  Perhaps we need bigger back yards or bigger nature strips – or both – where a decent canopy tree could be planted?

Weed alert - Watsonia

It is the time of year when the roadside weed, Watsonia or Bugle Lily, is in full bloom.

Watsonia is a native to southern Africa. There are about 70 species worldwide. The one we have in our district is most likely Watsonia meriana. It is a garden escapee that has become well-established around the country. One of its first introductions was to a private garden in Adelaide in 1842. It appears as a listed plant in the Melbourne Botanic Gardens in 1859.

The species forms dense colonies in roadside localities and disturbed bushland sites, particularly in wet areas. Watsonia has exceptional capacity to reproduce both from seed and vegetatively.

Some references suggest it can be toxic to stock. Native wildlife certainly appears to avoid it. The main issue with Watsonia is that in natural bushland sites, the dense colonies crowd out any native plants in the vicinity.

Control of Watsonia can be difficult if not done with proper follow up procedures. Watsonia is a declared noxious weed in Baw Baw Shire.

 

 

Latham's Snipe

A recent bird survey at the Drouin Waste Water Treatment Plant in Settlement Rd, conducted by members of the Friends of Drouin’s Trees, resulted in the sighting of a pair of Latham’s Snipe, Gallinago hardwickii.

John Latham was an early English ornithologist whose work coincided with the explorations of James Cook. ‘Gallinago’ is from the Latin for ‘resembling a hen-like bird’. Charles Browne Hardwicke was an English naval lieutenant who settled in Tasmania. He was a horse-racing enthusiast and farmer whose connection with the bird is tenuous – its thought that he probably shot it frequently.

Record of Victorian sightings. Credit: Birdata

Latham’s Snipe is a cryptic migrant from Japan. It breeds in Japan and Eastern Russia during our winter and migrates to Australia via the East Asian–Australasian Flyway, arriving here in our spring. This migratory flight only takes a few days. Some researchers suggest that some birds do the journey in one non-stop flight. The birds depart Australia in late summer to return to their breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere.

Latham’s Snipe usually inhabit open freshwater wetlands with low, dense vegetation – swamps, bogs, dams, even roadside drains at times. It is an omnivorous species that uses its long bill to probe for seeds and invertebrates in the mud and shallow water.

Although not listed threatened in Victoria, in January this year, the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act listed the Latham’s Snipe as Vulnerable. The main threat to the species is the loss of habitat, especially the modification of wetland areas by drainage and clearance for agricultural, residential and industrial development. The bushfires and droughts in Australia early this century contributed significantly to a dramatic decline in global numbers of Latham’s Snipe.

The bird has a reputation for being very shy and wary providing a challenge for early sporting shooters - and today’s photographers. Before bans on shooting were introduced in Victoria in 1984, the last state to do so, it is estimated that up to 6000 birds were shot annually in this state alone. In Russia, hunting for Latham’s Snipe still occurs today.

The bird’s recorded at Drouin recently inhabit some wet, tussocky pasture beside the Drouin Waste Water Treatment Plant in Settlement Rd. These paddocks have recently undergone some drainage works in preparation for residential development. Future sightings of Latham’s Snipe in this location are probably questionable.

100 Buln Buln Rd in Drouin is earmarked for a development of 400+ houses. The southern section is ideal Latham’s Snipe habitat!