Almost $300,000 will be spent enhancing Box Gum Grassy Woodlands on farms in the Canowindra and Cowra district over the next six years, as part of the NSW Government's Save our Species (SoS) Program.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mid Lachlan Landcare (MLL) was successful in its bid to roll out a program protecting White Box, Yellow Box, Blakely's Red Gum woodland on local farms.
This Woodland is a threatened ecological community of which it is estimated that less than 10% of its pre-European distribution is still intact.
The project will provide farmers with access to resources to understand and manage woodland areas.
As part of the project farm visits will be carried out and individual property woodland management plans will be completed.
These plans will include a range of actions which will be tailored to suit the farmers involved and their production systems.
"It is a long term land management project aiming to build the ecological function of Box Gum Woodlands on private farms,"' Will Johnson from MLL said.
Project officer Tracee Burke is working day to day on the project.
"We will be targeting sites but we are also interested in hearing from farmers who are eager to protect the native woodland habitats on their properties and are hoping to get 58 farms involved over the next six years of the project," Mr Johnson said.
"Participants will develop property plans aimed specifically to maximize the possibility of this woodland surviving for the next 100 years while working in with the production systems of the farms involved."
Participants will then be eligible to apply for either immediate or future management actions funding which may include but are not limited to:
- Controlling weeds
- increasing woodland patch sizes and improving condition
- reconnecting fragmented patches
- fencing off sites to allow strategic grazing
- facilitating landholder networking and capacity building
- establishing appropriate grazing regimes to improve groundcover
- providing guidelines on species selection, spacing and design
- supplementing lost timber with other woody debris.
Funded by the NSW Government via the NSW Environmental Trust, the program is interested in collaboration between Government, the community, non-government organisations and industry.
Sites in the Cowra, Canowinda, Hovells Creek, Mandurama, Gooloogong, Cudal and Cargo areas may be assessed.
Each site will have the capacity to improve connectivity across the MLL Region and maximize the chances of Box Gum Grassy Woodlands surviving for the long term.
Contact Mid Lachlan Landcare if you are interested in finding out more about this great project.
Tracee Burke 0417 799 425 or e-mail midlachlanlandcare@gmail.com
