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South Australian Arid Lands - Natural Resource Management region

Regional summary

The South Australian Arid Lands region covers 538,000 square kilometres in the northern arid and semi-arid zone and covers almost 55 percent of South Australia. Its population of 25,000 people (1.6 percent of the state's population) is scattered sparsely across the region. About 10 percent of the population is Indigenous Australians.

The South Australian Arid Lands region includes the Simpson Desert, the Coongie Lakes Ramsar-listed wetlands of international significance, lakes Eyre, Torrens and Frome, and the ecologically important Flinders and Gammon ranges.

The region contains a greater percentage of intact ecosystems and natural biological diversity than any other in the state. Its extensive vegetation can be both resilient and fragile, depending on the rainfall cycle and management practices. The region's natural resources support numerous activities, including cattle and sheep grazing, mining, tourism and recreation. Management of the natural resources is characterised by few people covering considerable distances in a custodial role over large areas of Indigenous, private, leasehold and crown lands.

Priority issues

Key natural resource management issues in the region include:

• impacts of weeds and feral animals on both grazing and ecologically important areas
• impacts of total (native and introduced) grazing pressure on native pastures
• competition for and decline in the quality of surface and ground water resources
• degradation of the region's soil resources

Regional plan

The South Australian Arid Lands Integrated Natural Resource Management (NRM) Group was responsible for developing the South Australian Arid Lands regional plan, in consultation with the local community. This plan was based on a whole-of-region approach and addresses significant NRM issues incorporating social, environmental and economic aspects.

The South Australian Arid Lands Integrated NRM Group was also responsible for developing and implementing a regional investment strategy for the region, which is essentially the business plan that will attract investment from the Australian and State Governments and other potential investors. It details the specific actions, costs and timeframes required to achieve NRM targets identified in the regional plan.

The Natural Heritage Trust (the Trust) investment played a key role in funding NRM projects undertaken by the South Australian Arid Lands Soil Conservation Boards and in coordinating NRM in the region including the development of community driven regional plans. Most recently, the Trust funded the South Australian Arid Lands Integrated NRM Group to develop its Regional Plan.

• South Australian Arid Lands plan - accredited June 2004

Current activities

NRM priority	Activities addressing the priority
Threatened species	protecting habitats of species such as the Greater Bilby, Burrowing Bettong, Western Barred Bandicoot, Greater Stick-nest Rat and Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby and implementing recovery plans
Weeds infesting native pasture	developing comprehensive weed management strategies and undertaking on-ground control
Arid rivers and waterhole management	surveying rivers and developing management activities to protect water dependent ecosystems
Managing feral animals to protect native pastures, native animals and bushland	fox, feral cat and goat control measures are being developed and implemented and a rangeland pest management strategy is being developed, in consultation with other groups in the Lake Eyre Basin
Soil erosion	strategic rehabilitation and erosion control works

Contacts

Further information can be obtained by contacting the Regional Facilitators for South Australia.