TREES FOR REHABILITATION (LANDCARE REAFFORESTATION)

Student Comment: 'I definitely learned a lot from [the course) but it was also beneficial in affirming [and raising my confidence] in what I already knew.' Katrina Merrifield, Masters Conservation Science, NZ, Trees for Rehabilitation course.

Create a better environment by growing the best trees, the best way on a degraded site.

Course Duration: 100 hours

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Approaches To Land Rehabilitation
2. Ecology Of Soils And Plant Health
3. Introduction To Seed Propagation Techniques
4. Propagation And Nursery Stock.
5. Dealing With Chemical Problems
6. Physical Plant Effects On Degraded Sites
7. Plant Establishment Programs
8. Hostile Environments
9. Plant Establishment Care
10. Rehabilitating Degraded Sites

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Compare different approaches to land rehabilitation, to determine strengths and weaknesses of alternative options on a site to be rehabilitated.
• Determine techniques to maximise plant development in land rehabilitation situations.
• Explain the different ways of producing seedling trees for land rehabilitation purposes.
• Determine appropriate plant establishment programs.
• Develop procedures to care for plants, during establishment in an hostile environment.
• Manage the rehabilitation of degraded soil.
• Explain the effect of plants on improving a degraded site, both physically and chemically.

What You Will Do

• Determine different plant cultivarsgrowing on land degradation on sites.
• Explain different reasons for land requiring rehabilitation, including: * Salination * Erosion * Mining * Grazing * Vegetation harvesting * Pests * Reduction of biodiversity * Soil contamination * Urbanisation.
• Compare the effectiveness of different policy approaches to land rehabilitation by different agencies and organisation, including: * Different levels of government * Mining companies * Developers * Conservation groups (i.e. tree planting bodies, landcare groups).
• Develop a risk analysis for a specified site to be rehabilitated, by determining a variety of plant health problems which may impact on the success of plant establishment.
• Analyse the failure of plants to grow successfully on a visited land rehabilitation site.
• Develop a procedure to enhance the success rate of land rehabilitation plantings on a degraded site.
• Describe the use of mulches, to maximise plant condition in a specified land rehabilitation tree planting project.
• Explain different processes of establishing seedlings on land rehabilitation sites, including: *tubestock nursery production *direct seeding *pre-germinated bare rooted seedlings.
• Determine factors which affect the viability of establishing five different species of plant seedlings, from different plant families; on a specific degraded site.
• Compare the benefits of acquiring plants for a project by buying tubestock, with propagating and growing on, or close to, the planting site, with reference to: *costs *plant quality *local suitability *management.

• Prepare production schedules for a plant species, using different propagation techniques, summarising all important tasks from collection of seed to planting out of the tubestock.

• Calculate the cost of production for a tubestock plant, according to the production schedule.
• Estimate the differences in per plant establishment costs, for tubestock, compared with direct seeding methods, for planting on a degraded site.
• Describe different methods of planting trees for rehabilitation purposes.
• Describe different plant establishment techniques, including: *wind protection *frost protection *pest control *water management *weed management.
• Describe an appropriate method for preparing soil for planting, at a proposed rehabilitation site.
• Evaluate plant establishment techniques used by two different land rehabilitation programs inspected by you at least twelve months after planting was carried out.
• Determine the needs of plants after planting, on different proposed land rehabilitation sites.
• Describe different ways to cater to the needs of large numbers of plants after planting.
• Collect pressed specimens or photographs of trees for a herbarium of suitable trees for rehabilitation, and including information on the culture and care of each tree.
• Describe different types of soil degradation.
• Determine the risk factors involved in soil degradation.
• Compare different alternative methods of treating several different soil degradation problems.
• Develop an assessment form to use for evaluating the sensitivity of a site to land degradation.
• Evaluate a site showing signs of degradation, selected by you, using the assessment form you developed.
• Plan a rehabilitation program for the degraded site you evaluated, including *a two year schedule of work to be completed; *list of quantity and type of materials required; *approximate cost estimates.
• Explain the effect different plant species may have resisting soil degradation.
• Explain how different plants can have different impacts upon the chemistry of their environment, including both air and soil.
• Evaluate the significance of a group of plants, to the nature of the microclimate in which you find them growing.
• Compare the appropriateness of twenty different plant species for different degraded sites.
• Determine plant varieties, suited to each of different degradation situations.

 Career Tips:

• Keep your skills current and relevant to Tree Rehabilitation.  Attend workshops and other Professional Development opportunites to brush up on your knowledge.
• Meet other people in the industry.  Attend functions and join networking sites to meet others working in the industry.
• Get experienced. Try to gain experience, maybe by volunteering your time to add to your CV.
  

Other Courses

ACS offers a wide range of Environmental Studies covering courses in zoology, environmental management, wildlife, botany, waste, eath sciences for vocational careers, self improvement (adult education) or qualifications; available as e learning (on line or CD electronic study) or with traditional printed texts.