Gone fishing … and planting

The keen anglers of the King Ash Bay Fishing Club do more than throw a line in at their local McArthur River, some 950 kilometres south-east of Darwin.

About 20 active members have put their rods and reels aside to help replant and stabilise the river's badly eroded banks.

Funding

Their work has been helped by $3,705 from the Australian Government. The funding also went towards building a shade house for breeding native plants.

Activities

Vegetation along the McArthur River is sparse in this area. Growing tourism, including camping on the riverbanks, has put pressure on the river's ecosystem, with the riverbanks devoid of plants and subject to erosion.

This has prompted the tight-knit community of King Ash Bay, which swells from a population of 40 in the wet season to 500 in the dry, to get involved in the local Landcare Group. Nearby Borroloola residents, 30 kilometres away, were also invited to join in.

Their work took place over 18 months and saw 500 plants put in, plus a stock of 400 native trees and shrubs propagated - with a 90 per cent survival rate. Volunteers set out in the McArthur River's savannah landscape to collect seed from the local area. This was then used to stabilise about one hectare of erosion areas and cleared patches along the river banks.

Locals drew on the expertise of Greening Australia in Katherine for advice on native vegetation and also sought information from the McArthur River Mining (MIM) environmental superintendent.

They obtained information about maturing times of local seeds, seed picking and drying techniques and propagation techniques. They also gained an understanding of the local river bank ecosystem, which helped them in establishing seedlings.

Achievements

Today, the river is lined with saplings of River Gum, Swamp Bloodwood, Black Wattle, Red Bead Tree, Quinine Tree, grevilleas, Yellow Flame Tree and Carpentaria Palms.

Plants were watered using drip irrigation in the first dry season and the established shrubs were hand watered. The nursery is currently being maintained by the Landcare members.

Seedlings native to the region are also being used for further Landcare program and by the community to promote replanting.

More information

• Teresa Turner, King Ash Bay Landcare Group: (08) 8975 8998 or turner.shed@bigpond.com

Australian Government NRM Team
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
1800 552 008 (toll-free)

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NRM, NHT and NAP are jointly administered by the Australian Government departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts