This update represents just a handful among the hundreds of NRM projects going on across Australia, which are made possible through funding from the Australian Government and respective State governments.
Cultural burning revives Riverina's box gum grassy woodlands – Riverina Local Land Services, New South Wales
Riverina and Southeast Local Land Services, alongside Local Aboriginal Land Councils and the Australian National University (ANU), have implemented a return to cultural burning practices in the endangered box gum grassy woodlands of New South Wales.
ANU researchers undertook ecological monitoring of the cultural burns, which demonstrated that these fire practices rejuvenate native pastures and promote the growth of plants that provide vital habitat for wildlife. The project also aimed to nurture the connection between the local Aboriginal community and their traditional lands.
Read more here.
Results in for 2023 Little Penguin population census - Kangaroo Island Landscape Board, SA
In 2023 the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board (KILB) undertook the first Little Penguin population survey in over 10 years. The KILB Biodiversity unit, funded by the Australian government, completed a comprehensive count of active burrows in 12 known colonies, and found that three colonies are extinct, and all are in decline, except for the Emu Bay colony.
The survey data will inform management decisions for penguin and habitat protection. Actions to protect the penguins include targeted invasive predator and weed control, planting native coastal plants to enhance existing nesting habitats, and redirecting coastal walking trails away from key habitat areas.
Tully and Johnstone water quality program wraps up – Terrain NRM, Queensland
Terrian NRM are wrapping up the Tully and Johnstone Water Quality Program after three years of collecting water, soil and leaf monitoring data. The data has provided insights to the region’s cane and banana farmers to help inform farm management decisions to improve production and reduce fertiliser runoff from farms in the Tully-Innisfail region and, ultimately, into the Great Barrier Reef.
Terrain NRM’s Charles Hammond said “While this program is ending, it’s important that we continue to build long-term data sets for priority areas so we can continue to link land management, new practices, and even new crops, to water quality.”
The Tully-Johnstone Water Quality Program is funded by the partnership between the Great Barrier Reef Foundation and the Australian Government’s Reef Trust
Read more here.
Giving Gippsland Lakes room to move – West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority, Victoria
As part of the Victorian government’s Love our Lakes program, West Gippsland Catchment Management Authority (CMA) is working with private landholders and partners to enhance water quality and reconnect and improve the condition of priority fringing wetlands along the lower Carran Carran (Thomson), Wirn’Wurndook Yirrung (Macalister) and Durt’Yowan (Latrobe) river reaches.
“Planning for, protecting and increasing available freshwater habitat is essential for plants and wildlife to be able to move and seek refuge within the landscape.” said Martin Fuller, CEO of West Gippsland CMA.
Read more here.
2024 Tide to Tip results – Ocean Watch
2024 marks the fifth year of the Ocean Watch Tide to Tip initiative where oyster farmers partner with commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen, and Indigenous and community groups to clean-up estuaries and foreshores- removing tonnes of marine litter.
This year 121 passionate volunteers dedicated a total of 362 hours to the cause, resulting in the removal of 6007 kg of rubbish and bringing the project total to over 48 tonnes of rubbish removed.
The 2024 Tide to Tip program is jointly funded by the Australian & NSW Government's Storm & Flood Industry Recovery Program.
Read the newsletter article and project update.
Testing virtual fencing tech – NQ Dry Tropics, Queensland
Under the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, NQ Dry Tropics is leading a consortium including Gulf Savannah NRM, Qld Government, graziers and scientists in a five-year project to test the efficacy of virtual fencing in the Burdekin region. Virtual fencing can direct livestock away from environmentally vulnerable land towards better pastures, improving land management and drought resilience.
Cattle wear a collar fitted with solar powered, GPS enabled eShepherd virtual fencing tech, that receives the coordinates of the virtual paddock boundary via W-IFI and provides audio and electrical cues. A key element of the research is animal welfare, with early results indicating the electrical cues are comparable to traditional electric fencing and that cattle quickly attune to audio warnings of ‘fence’ proximity.
Read more here.
Integrated pest management critical for Fitz-Stirling fauna protection – South Coast NRM, Western Australia
With the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program funding, South Coast NRM has been working alongside partners to reduce the impact of foxes and cats in the Stirling Range to Fitzgerald River National Park (Fitz-Stirling) and the Two Peoples Bay to Fitzgerald River National Park Coastal (Coastal) wildlife corridors.
Extensive land clearing and predation from foxes and cats has had a devastating impact on native wildlife in the region. This project focused on protecting three priority species – the Western ground parrot, chuditch and malleefowl. Monitoring of wildlife occurred alongside pest control methods to support understanding of how the control activities have impacted both feral predators and threatened species.
Read more here.