Study Reafforestation and Bush Regeneration by Online Learning.
"Understand environmental systems and care of trees"
This course develops an understanding of environmental systems and the rehabilitation of degraded landscapes. You learn about seed collection, storage and germination, propagation, plant selection, establishment techniques, controlling pest and disease after planting.
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
COURSE STRUCTURE
There are ten lessons are as follows:
Approaches To Land Rehabilitation
Ecology Of Soils And Plant Health
Introduction To Seed Propagation Techniques
Propagation And Nursery Stock.
Dealing With Chemical Problems
Physical Plant Effects On Degraded Sites
Plant Establishment Programs
Hostile Environments
Plant Establishment Care
Rehabilitating Degraded Sites
What qualification will I achieve for completing this course?
This is an individual module course. The individual module courses are 100 hour long usually and can be taken on their own or as part of a larger program of study.
If you wish to take an individual module course as a stand alone course, you can elect to sit an optional exam at the end of it.
If you successfully pass the exam and all assignments, you will receive a Statement of Attainment. You can take examinations at a time and location to suit you. If you enrol, you will be sent further information on how to arrange examinations at the end of the course.
If you do not wish to take the exam, you will receive a Course Completion letter when you have passed all assignments.
There is an assignment at the end of each lesson. So for example, if an individual module course contains ten lessons, you will need to complete ten assignments. Assignments can be sent to us via email, post or fax.
Other qualifications, such as certificates, diplomas etc may require examinations to be taken as part of the overall assessment process.
You can find further information on the examinations process by clicking on the “Enrolment” link above.
You can find further information on other courses by clicking on the “Courses” link above.
SUMMARY OF COMPETENCIES DEVELOPED
On successful completion of the course you should be able to do the following:
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 THE COURSE COVERS
Here are just some of the things you mayl be doing:
Determine ten different examples of land degradation on different 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 visited by you.
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 in:
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 five 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 developed by you.
Estimate the differences in per plant establishment costs, for tubestock, compared with direct seeding methods, for planting on a degraded site.
Describe three 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 land rehabilitation site in your locality.
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 two different proposed land rehabilitation sites.
Describe two different, efficient ways, of catering to the needs of large numbers of plants after planting.
Collect pressed specimens or photographs of twenty 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, detected in your locality.
Determine the risk factors involved in soil degradation, relevant to your locality.
Compare two different alternative methods of treating each of three different soil degradation problems identified and inspected by you.
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 six 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 five plant varieties, suited to each of six different degradation situations.
DURATION: 100 hours
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How Long will it take to complete the course?
This obviously varies from student to student. Some students will have more time for study than others. Some students may work quicker than others, so it is an individual thing. We estimate that most students will take, for example, 4 – 6 months to complete a 100 hour individual module, but we allow up to 12 months for you to complete it.
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I don’t think this is the right course for me.
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"Understand environmental systems and care of trees"
The importance of trees to land management cannot be overstated. Often in the past they have been seen as competing for valuable land space and felled indiscriminately. Over clearing of trees can lead to salinity problems and numerous forms of erosion and land slips. As we have become more familiar with their vital role in ecological processes, retention and selective planting of trees has been widely acknowledged, in improving farm viability and ultimately production.
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
