Rangelands Connecting Landscapes

Engaging landholders in the Riverland Biosphere and Burra to Pualco Ranges

Project Co-ordinators David Setchell – Mallee Eco ServicesRebecca O’Leary – O’Leary Consultants

Project area

Project aims

•Engaging landholders in the control of feral goats and rabbits at a landscape scale

•Reducing total grazing pressure

•Improving the condition & resilience of native vegetation for biodiversity and productivity outcomes

Project governance

Riverland Biosphere Steering Committee

Burra to Pualco Ranges Steering

Committee

Project Management Committee

Landholders & Stakeholders

Stakeholders & partners

•Natural Resources SA Murray-Darling Basin & Northern and Yorke

•Rangelands & Riverland NRM Groups

•Landholders and pastoralists in the project area

•Australian Landscape Trust (Calperum and Taylorville Stations)

•Birdlife Australia (Gluepot Reserve)

•Bush Heritage Australia (Boolcoomatta Reserve)

•Australian Wildlife Conservancy (Scotia Sanctuary)

•NSW DECCW (Tarawi Nature Reserve)

•DEWNR Pastoral Unit

•Volunteer Organisations

•Western Local Land Services (NSW)

•Parks Victoria

•Aerial surveys

•Landholder & stakeholder engagement

•On-ground works

•Building landholder capacity

•Monitoring (vegetation, satellite tracking and conceptual model)

Project components

Aerial survey (2011-2015)

Landholder & stakeholder engagement

•Property visits

•Tailoring communication to suit landholders

•Steering Committee membership

•Landholder grant agreements

Challenges for engagement

•Wide variety of views regarding feral goats

•Economic value of feral goats

•Limited amount of labour & time available to landholders/pastoralists

•Geographical barriers

•Previous experiences & attitudes towards government projects

On-ground works

Dam rationalisations

Warren ripping

On-ground works

Before After

Warren imploding

On-ground works

Aerial operations

•Strategically targeted based on geography and aerial survey results

•Landholders can choose mustering/culling or culling

•In kind contribution of on-ground mustering support

•Targeting feral goat populations that are inaccessible

On-ground works

Mustering and trap yards

On-ground works

Building landholder capacity

•Providing technical advice

•Assisting with grant applications

•Permanent trap/muster yard construction

•Portable trap yards for loan

•Exclusion fencing

•In-kind contribution from landholder for all on-ground works

Portable trap yards

Building landholder capacity

Monitoring

Vegetation assessment sites

Satellite tracking

Monitoring

Conceptual model

Riverland Biosphere achievements

•22 pastoralists and land managers involved•Additional 9 stakeholders engaged•81,906 feral goats removed by mustering and trapping•16,771 feral goats removed by ground and aerial culling•1,058 rabbit warrens destroyed•23 dams closed•49 trap yards on pastoral properties•21 trap yards on the conservation reserves•43 vegetation monitoring sites established

Burra to Pualco Ranges achievements

•31 pastoralists and land managers involved •4,530 feral goats removed by mustered and trapping•3,526 feral goats removed by ground and aerial culling•4,261 rabbit warrens ripped•702 warrens imploded•20 trap yards on 10 pastoral and conservation properties •5 vegetation monitoring sites established

This program would not be possible without funding from the following programs and funding bodies:SAMDB NRM BoardAustralian Government Biodiversity Fund