Mosaic Map: NRM funded projects
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Landholders conserve cultural and natural assets
The owners of a cattle station south of Barcaldine are working with Desert Channels Queensland to protect Indigenous artwork, rare land formations and native plants on their property.
An unusual escarpment on 'Stratford' Station is potted with caves and one of the few sites of Indigenous artwork in the region. The water draining from the escarpment provides an environment for some rare plant species such as ancient figs left over from a long-gone rainforest.
Stratford owners Robyn Adams and Terry Brennan decided they wanted to do something to protect the Indigenous and environmental values of the escarpment.
They came up with a project designed to restore and protect the escarpment's natural and cultural environments while increasing their ability to sustainably manage the remaining paddock areas for livestock.
Funding
Assistance has come with $36,000 from the Australian Government and support from the State Government through Desert Channels Queensland (DCQ). Support also came from a DCQ-funded biological survey.
"We bought the property in 2001 knowing we had something fairly special on it," Robyn said.
"It had been decimated by the long dry, but the area around the escarpment was green and had a lot of diverse plants. And we're frequently finding artifacts that reflect a rich Indigenous past."
Activities
Funding has helped Robyn and Terry manage cattle grazing around the escarpment.
"It has enabled us to fence according to land type and separate it into manageable areas," Robyn said. "Cattle will generally be excluded from the escarpment, but allowed in at selected times to reduce grass mass and hence wildfire risk.
"We've added watering points and have been able to increase the carrying capacity of pastures away from the sensitive areas under the cliffs. We've also treated weeds like parkinsonia and mimosa."
David Thompson, DCQ Indigenous Program Facilitator and one of the Traditional Custodians of the Stratford sites, is a great supporter of the project. "This is a win-win project for everyone involved," he said.
"It's a win for the landholders, as they're preserving both biological and Indigenous values. It's a win for the Traditional Owners of the area, as it's preserving some of our cultural heritage and in turn Australia's historical values.
"And it's a win for DCQ as we're achieving valuable practical results and encouraging formal partnerships between organisations interested in preserving Australia's natural, cultural and historical values."
More information
- David Thompson, DCQ Indigenous Program Facilitator: David.Thompson@dcq.org.au
- Robyn Adams, 'Stratford' Station owner: stratford01@bigpond.com
See also
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