Blogs

By Dr Ted Wolfe and Jacinta Christie, Murrumbidgee Landcare

Riverina farmers have progressively lifted the productivity and sustainability of their farmlands. Now, many landholders have taken the next step by conserving and rehabilitating the isolated patches of native vegetation on their farms to enhance biodiversity.

Across the mid-Murrumbidgee region, native vegetation now exists predominantly in small, scattered remnants across multiple properties. From 2012 - 2018, the Cross Property Planning (CPP) project worked with landholders in the Kyeamba Valley, Tarcutta-Humula, and Junee-Illabo-Bethungra regions using a cross-property approach to protect and reconnect native vegetation across this fragmented landscape.

In three landscapes (Illabo, Bethungra and Junee; Kyeamba Valley; Tarcutta), 43 landholders worked together to plan, link, plant, and protect patches of native vegetation. The project, coordinated by Murrumbidgee Landcare Inc. and funded by the Australian Government’s Biodiversity fund, fostered a community approach to planning and planting, encouraging landholders to develop their own plans within the project framework.

Peter and Sandra Heffernan have a farm near Junee and have taken a practical approach in their landscape, originally cleared to make way for cropping and improved pastures. On their hillslopes, they have carefully followed a design of establishing tree/shrub zones in belts and triangles alongside paddocks managed for pasture, grazing, and cropping activities. Supplementary plantings have occurred along natural watercourses.

John and Nicole Hopkins, whose property is at Illabo, have taken advantage of their landscape where tree regeneration is naturally more active. They fenced off potential revegetation areas, and now decide strategically how and when to graze shelterbelt areas. They acknowledge the importance of working with the landscape and point to the positive influences of NRM involvement on family life, and school-age children.

Murrumbidgee Landcare’s project has achieved impressive results. Taking place on properties with a total area of 37,221 hectares, nearly 700 ha of biodiverse plantings of trees and shrubs have been made and 400 ha have been protected and enhanced for natural regeneration. Almost 24,000 ha have been treated to help protect native animals and vegetation from pests. Other benefits include shade and shelter for livestock, insect refugia, bird migration, and human satisfaction and capacity.

To learn more about the Cross Property Planning Project, visit Murrambidgee Landcare Inc. or Landcare NSW.

For further information about the project please contact Jacinta Christie jchristie@mli.org.au or Nicole Maher nmaher@mli.org.au.