Mosaic Map: NRM funded projects
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Regeneration work for Farrar’s Creek
Cattle have gone to Farrar's Creek on 'Connemara Station' south of Longreach to drink and graze for the last one hundred years and the results were becoming all too evident.
Trampled stream banks were eroding and water holes silting up. Surrounding pastures in Little Bullock Paddock were over-grazed and lack of ground cover was starting to cause sheet erosion which was threatening to develop into gully erosion.
Funding
The North Australian Pastoral Company (NAPCO) which owns 'Connemara' decided that it was time for action.
It received funding of nearly $27,000 from the Australian Government. This, plus a significant injection of funds from the company itself, provided the basis for a project to reduce the cattle's need to rely on the creek for water and grazing.
Achievements
"We built around 14 kilometres of fencing to separate different land systems found along the creek so we could manage grazing pressures on the various land types more effectively," said Delphine Bentley, NAPCO's General Manager, Corporate Development. "We've also built a dam so cattle have an alternative water source."
This work will help native plants like Coolabah, River Redgum, Mulga, Gidyea and Mitchell Grass to regenerate along the river floodplains and banks.
David Akers, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Community Extension Officer in Longreach is familiar with the Farrar's Creek Project.
"When cattle use areas along waterways continuously, the ground and mid layer of plants are destroyed and no replacement trees come up," he said. "The whole ecological function grinds to a halt. But this doesn't necessarily mean a dramatic need for replanting; cattle just have to be kept off so that seeds can regenerate.
"Most people now recognise you can't keep animals in one paddock for years on end. You can't graze 100 per cent of the time; otherwise you'll have nothing left in ten years."
The newly fenced areas of Little Bullock Paddock have been spelled for about two years, but have seen little rain and Delphine doesn't expect obvious improvements until there are significant rainfalls in the Channel Country.
"When these finally come we expect to see a flush of annual grasses and herbs, with perennial grasses, shrubs and trees germinating and establishing soon after," she said.
"Adequate ground cover will help prevent soil erosion and provide stability to stream banks. And, once the habitat is restored, native animals will start to come back."
More information
- Delphine Bentley, NAPCO's General Manager, Corporate Development: dbentley@napco.com.au
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