Upper Yarra by Bush Projects

Birrarung Bio-zone guide uniform

Public access to core protected sites within the Birrarung Bio-zone, a future protection area located in the upper-Birrarung catchment, is guided by local community caretakers who work in partnership with Traditional Custodians and the State Government.

Birrarung Bio-zone guide uniforms allow guides to safely traverse the riparian swamplands and shallow wetlands that form this part of the Birrarung’s landscape. All elements of the uniform are designed to prevent transmission of biohazards, such as the seeds of invasive species, into the zone during monitoring and evaluation of fauna, vegetation and water quality.

Birrarung Bio-zone guide uniform

Public access to core protected sites within the Birrarung Bio-zone, a future protection area located in the upper-Birrarung catchment, is guided by local community caretakers who work in partnership with Traditional Custodians and the State Government.

Birrarung Bio-zone guide uniforms allow guides to safely traverse the riparian swamplands and shallow wetlands that form this part of the Birrarung’s landscape. All elements of the uniform are designed to prevent transmission of biohazards, such as the seeds of invasive species, into the zone during monitoring and evaluation of fauna, vegetation and water quality.

Project Statement

The acquisition of private land for public use provides an opportunity to reconsider land use to prioritise the needs of the community. This project proposes that in 2070, following public acquisition of a tract of private agricultural land, the Birrarung Bio-zone is established as a protected ecological habitat spanning 1500 hectares of the upper Birrarung floodplain.

Within the zone, the Birrarung’s seasonal water-flow cycles are reinstated and the removal of agricultural infrastructure accelerates landscape regeneration. Seasonal water flows spread freely across the floodplain and downstream, dispersing native seeds along the catchment and accelerating regeneration. This movement of water helps to restore the river’s resilience, and protects it against the evolving pressures of urbanisation.

The Birrarung Bio-zone is designed as a new public land typology, defined by a gradient of access thresholds. These access categories include core conservation zones, which provide ecological and publicly inaccessible breeding grounds to protect numerous threatened species.The broader site plan features visitor access points, First Nations agricultural production zones and extensive seed orchards for local landscape regeneration.

With the implementation of the Birrarung Bio-zone a renewed sense of ecological and human health and wellbeing is possible; the Birrarung would be safe to swim downstream, enriching its cultural and social value in the heart of Melbourne city. Responding to the river’s flow cycles, the emergent ecologies of this reinstated floodplain would harbour a myriad of local and migrating species – water birds can be seen in the sky overhead, large fish occupy the river, and a diverse landscape of native flora populates the catchment.

The Birrarung Bio-zone meander simulation
Illustrating the movement of the river over time, these computer-generated sequences show the dynamics at play in meandering river systems, providing an impression of how rivers like the Birrarung evolve over millennia to produce riparian forms such as billabongs. These dynamic riparian conditions form environments that host a myriad of lifeforms. This video demonstrates how the Birrarung should be understood as a system that extends far beyond its apparent main water channel. As a living entity, the Birrarung requires space to move and function.

The Birrarung Bio-zone flood simulation
Data analysis and visualisation can illustrate the dynamics of a river system and offer a means of communication with the Birrarung. This simulation of inundation sequences shows how seasonal flooding unfolds on the Birrarung’s floodplain. A detailed topographic digital model of the site (produced from LiDAR data) forms the base for a water simulation that visually approximates how flood water inundates the zone. Distinct and subtle patterns of water flow are revealed. The simulation illustrates the extent of seasonal flooding and demonstrates the role of the floodplain as an intrinsic part of the river, existing beyond the extent of a line represented on a map.

Speculative maps and drawings

Landscape site analysis

Illustrating the historical flows and manipulation of the floodplain, this LiDAR image of the existing site in the upper- Birrarung catchment forms an X-ray-like view, providing insight into the current conditions of the landscape and river system. This site analysis guides decisions in the zone’s restoration towards 2070. The image also shows how built landforms, constrained the river’s movement.

The Birrarung Bio-zone perspective view

Depicting a LiDAR view from within a visitation area in the proposed Birrarung Bio-zone, this snapshot of the protected ecosystem provides a glimpse into the abundant landscape experienced by visitors in 2070.

The Birrarung Bio-Zone landscape plan

Environmental watering and the restoration of riparian ecosystems is an expanding field within catchment management and policy, supported by advanced predictive modeling systems.

The Birrarung Bio-zone design spans 1500 hectares along a vast flood plain within the river’s upper catchment. This plan illustrates a simulation of the meander belt within the zone, providing an impression of the future paths of the Birrarung. The plan was developed to advocate for the Birrarung Bio-zone’s location.

This site was selected for its role in filtering and restoring water health within the upper catchment – replenishing the river downstream – and for its status as a key area of remnant ecologies harbouring diverse, rare and endangered species.

The Birrarung Bio-zone aerial view

What is currently private farmland for grazing is reimagined, in 2070, as a biodiversity hotspot within Greater Melbourne. As a destination enjoyed by the community, this area illustrates the extensive regeneration that would be made possible by the Birrarung Bio-zone.

About Bush Projects

Bush Projects is a multidisciplinary landscape architecture studio based in Melbourne. Working collaboratively, the studio shares collective expertise to establish immersive shared places that directly engage with the dynamics of the local environment and community. Operating across scales and within varied contexts, the practice prioritises landscape to expand functional use and create opportunity for public engagement, while regenerating the unique environmental conditions and values of each site.