"Yass Gorge, stretching from Flat Rock Crossing to the Yass Dam wall, is a wonderful natural treasure in the middle of Yass and an ideal place to visit and learn about the geology, the Traditional Ngunnawal owners, rare native plants and animals and much more. Work is being undertaken to restore the Gorge to its original vegetation and habitat values - this is a work in progress"

- From the introduction of 'Welcome to Yass Gorge, by Geoff Robertson and Ryl Parker

Want  to find out more?

• Follow the Friends of Yass Gorge Facebook page
• Geoff Robertson & Ryl Parker 'Welcome to our Yass Gorge', K2C Incorporated.
• Yass Valley Council's Plan of Management for Yass Gorge 2017-2027.
• 'Thinking globally, acting locally this World Environment Day', Yass Tribune, 5th June 2020.
• Check out some photos from the 'Yass River Restoration Walk with Dreamtime Connections' event, held on Sunday 21st May 2023.

Other projects on the Yass River

• Willow removal on Hardwicke, Yass River
• Rivers of Carbon – Yass River Linkages Stage 3

The CRR Project I Further CRR Information I Contact Us

The Climate Ready Revegetation (CRR) Project aims to enhance the genetic diversity of selected native plant species. This is based on the understanding that increased genetic diversity is likely to help species adapt to climate change through natural selection over generations. The project emerged from a 2018 workshop hosted by Bowning Bookham Landcare’s Habitat Hops project that considered how to ensure that revegetation plantings survive into the future as the local climate changes. Since then the project has:

• undertaken analysis of the future climate tolerance of 80+ species and selected an admixture provenance strategy to guide sourcing of seed for the Yass Area;
• germination tested and then grown thousands of tubestock from seed sourced using an ‘admixture provenance strategy’ (or admix) that combines seed from both local and non-local plant populations;
• with the support of local landholders and volunteers 1729 tubestock have been fenced, planted and continue to be monitored in a trial planting to compare the survival of local and non-local plants of 3 species (Eucalyptus Melliodora/Yellow Box, Acacia Deanii/Green Wattle and Dodonea Viscosa/Slender Hop Bush);
• started seed collection training with a small group of local landholders;
• sourced ‘admix’ seed of 3 or more provenances (or locations) initially for 3 species for the trial and now 30+ species grown by the Landcare nurseries;
• worked with the nursery managers of the 4 Landcare Nurseries in the Yass Area Network to refine and standardise nursery practices and adopt use of ‘admix’ seed for the majority of plants grown in the Landcare nurseries.

The project has been undertaken by a small team of predominantly volunteers, from across the Yass Area Network Landcare groups as well as our Local Landcare Coordinator. The CRR project has been supported with seed funding for materials from the NSW Government and Michael King Grant Program and with advice from Dr Sue McIntyre, Dr Nola Hancock, Dr Linda Broadhurst (co-authors of the Climate Ready Vegetation Guide, see further information), Mrs Jacqui Stol and the AdaptNSW Team.

Refer to the further information page for more detail about the project and other useful references or contact us if you’d like to discuss the project, offer support to continue this work (we always need more seed for the nurseries, funding, resources and volunteers), seek advice, or request a guest speaker to share our learning and experience. 

Yass Habitat Linkages is a 10 year project funded by the NSW Environmental Trust through a partnership between YAN, Greening Australia, the Australian River Restoration Centre, Land for Wildlife, Local Land Services and Yass Valley Council. The project commenced in 2016 and is well advanced in meeting its targets.  

This exciting project enables landholders to enhance biodiversity and improve sustainable farming in the Yass region by helping to create corridors of native vegetation across the landscape. The project focuses on restoring wildlife habitat and vegetation across a valued productive agricultural landscape. By returning areas to native vegetation and linking them to older, remnant stands across both public and private land, we can improve biodiversity and productivity. This is because connecting fragments of native vegetation increases habitat for plants and animals to maintain viable population sizes and genetic diversity. It also helps to successfully disperse young native birds and animals into an environment that will support them to maturity, maintain seasonal foraging movements, and recolonise after events such as fire. An additional benefit is that connected vegetation creates 'thermal' refuges from the negative impacts of climate change.

The project has engaged 53 landholders, and has resulted in 30,000 new native tubestock and 155km of direct seeding in the Yass Valley. 

Scroll down this page to watch a short video about Yass Habitat Linkages and the value of photos (this includes tips and tricks for photo monitoring).

Listen to a short interview about the YHL Project Elizabeth Goodfellow interviews YAN Coordinator, Sonya Duus, on Yass FM.

Summary of YHL project in five slides Presentation to a meeting of Environmental Trust staff and other project managers across NSW. 

Landcare NSW Gateway 'Yass Habitat Linkages', case study on the Landcare NSW website.

Landcare NSW Gateway 'Linkages created over time in Yass Valley', case study on the Landcare NSW website.

Yass Habitat Linkages Case Study: 'Arunda', Gunning Sue Mackenzie and Don Thomas have been restoring their property for the past decade. Joining the Yass Habitat Linkages project has allowed Sue and Don to extend their efforts. 

'Landholders Plant New Roots' An article by Yass Habitat Linkages Project Manager Charles Willcocks that appeared in the Yass Tribune on 6th March 2019.

The Truth About Trees event in March 2017 was an opportunity to bring the local community together with ecologists, practitioners, private and public managers, and other related service providers to hear from the experts, share local knowledge and have a conversation about addressing the issues around habitat loss, fragmentation and declines in productivity and work out how we, as a Landcare community, can work together to improve this situation. The event attracted 140 people. You can view Professor David Lindenmayer's presentation here.

Yass Habitat Linkages The original project brochure from 2016.

The project area lies within the New South Wales Great Eastern Ranges corridor, around Yass between Murrumbateman, Jerrawa and Bowning.

• NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Pest animals in NSW
• NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Your role in Biosecurity
• NSW Department of Primary Industries Pest animals in NSW
• Managing Pests and Weeds in Yass