About Roadside Environments

Why are Roadsides Important?
Roadside environments comprise a diverse range of environmental, economic, social and heritage values and provide a range of beneficial environmental and ecosystem services. In total they comprise around 5% of the total land area of New South Wales, which, when combined with travelling stock routes and reserves, is almost equivalent to the total area of National Parks in New South Wales (NSW Roadside Environment Committee). Some of the key values and services provided by well managed roadside environments include:

Biodiversity conservation
In many areas roadside environments may contain the primary source of remnant native vegetation, seed and wildlife habitat due to previous logging and clearing practices in the surrounding landscape. Even in less heavily cleared landscapes, remnant roadside vegetation often provides important links between larger patches of habitat that enable the movement of fauna species, thus contributing greatly to their ongoing survival.

In the Hunter, Central and Lower North Coast region, roadsides are critical to the conservation of nationally and State listed threatened species. Of the 74 nationally listed species occurring in the region, 42 are recorded in roadsides.

• 75% of the known occurrence of Allocasuarina simulans (89ha) occurs on or adjacent to a single roadway;
• a large proportion of Persoonia pauciflora occurs on roadsides, and
• Weeping Myall occurs almost exclusively on 10 hectares of roadsides.

Recovery plans and conservation advice for many of these species identify clearing and degradation from road & track construction, maintenance practices and a lack of community awareness, as key threats to their long term survival.

Conservation of items of cultural & historical significance
Items of cultural, historical or Aboriginal significance (middens, scarred trees, rock engravings and artwork, heritage roads, culverts and bridges, historic road markers or signage and significant trees) can often be located in roadside reserves. The appropriate management of these environments can therefore play an important role in the protection of these historically and culturally significant items.

Waterway and catchment health
The quality and quantity of water run-off from roads can have a significant impact on the quality of downstream waterways. Well vegetated roadside environments and appropriate road construction, maintenance and drainage practices and systems can play a significant role in reducing the extent of sediments and other pollutants that are discharged into local waterways from both sealed and unsealed road surfaces. 

Aesthetic, and amenity values
Roadside vegetation contributes considerably to the natural and rural amenity of the landscape. In addition to breaking the monotony of overly cleared landscapes, well vegetated roadsides soften the harshness of the road environment and provide shaded, sheltered points of interest for motorists. For many rural areas, roadside vegetation effectively creates the character for which it is known, while in areas that possess significant amounts of remnant vegetation, the presence of roadside vegetation reinforces the natural character and attributes of these locations.

Conservation of adjacent ecosystems (eg littoral rainforest & wetlands)
The presence of well vegetated roadside environments and the implementation of appropriate road construction and maintenance practices can play an important role in protecting significant or sensitive environments or ecosystems that occur in proximity to the road network. In these circumstances, roadside vegetation can provide an effective buffer against edge effects and disturbance factors including weeds and sediment runoff that would otherwise degrade these environments. Similarly, road design and management practices that avoid the dispersal of weed species and sediment runoff for example, are integral to the ongoing conservation of these environments.

Weed Management
Road corridors provide ideal vectors for the dispersal of weed propagules via vehicles, machinery and the movement of livestock. While the presence and spread of environmental and noxious weeds within roadside environments is a common management issue, its extent and significance can be reduced by protecting, restoring and maintaining the health of native roadside vegetation, as healthy vegetation communities are better able to resist and out compete invasion by weed species. Combined with the implementation of appropriate livestock and road construction and maintenance practices, healthy roadside vegetation can therefore play a significant role in reducing the presence and spread of weeds not only within the road corridor itself, but within the council area and broader region.

Shelter, shade and privacy
The shelter provided by roadside vegetation plays a role in improving the amenity and productivity of adjoining land by improving privacy, providing shade and shelter for livestock, reducing the impacts of strong winds, and reducing the impact of road noise and dust (from unsealed roads) on adjoining land owners and residents.

Prevention of land degradation
Well vegetated roadside environments can contribute to the prevention of land degradation issues including wind and water erosion of soil by reducing wind strength and providing well vegetated surfaces to bind the soil. They can also play a role in reducing the impacts of soil salinity by assisting in the maintenance of ground water levels.

Potential to reduce roadside maintenance costs
In the increasingly cost constrained management environments experienced by State and Local Government authorities responsible for the management of roads and roadside environments, the protection and restoration of roadside vegetation within the road reserve has the potential to reduce ongoing maintenance costs. Roadside mowing represents a significant maintenance cost that is typically incurred by councils. This activity and its associated costs can be reduced by promoting the regeneration and rehabilitation of native vegetation in the road reserve.

Natural Pest Control
Retaining and managing native vegetation within the road reserve to provide habitat for native animals including bird and bat species has the added benefit of providing a natural form of pest control for adjacent landowners. Native bird and bat species consume significant amounts of insect species including grasshoppers, scarab beetles, caterpillars, crickets and locusts, all of which can reduce the productivity of agricultural enterprises.

 

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