Western Field Trip

Semi-arid woodlands

Maintaining and improving social licence to operate

Saturday 31 August, 2019

to

Monday 2 September, 2019

Contacts during Western Field Trip

Cathy Waters 0417 626 288

Fiona Garland 0467 731 824

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Western Field Trip This 2 ½ day tour will travel to western New South Wales where considerable land-use and land management change has occurred in recent years. The tour will focus on practical examples of landscape scale restoration and conservation activities in the semi-arid woodlands.

In the areas surrounding Cobar and Bourke some ~23 % of land use has changed from traditional pastoral activities to carbon farming. There have also been significant changes in approaches to managing total grazing pressure through different types of fencing in these areas. The tour will visit sites where emerging management and enterprise options of carbon farming and exclusion fencing are being adopted. Participants will also learn about initiatives from the Kangaroo Management Taskforce to involve multiple stakeholder groups in addressing the complex issue of kangaroo management.

The environmental, social and production implications of land-use and land management changes will be discussed in the context of maintaining and improving the social licence to operate in semi-arid pastoral enterprises. The tour will include overnight stays in Cobar and Hillston.

Figure 1 Map of Western Field trip

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Field Trip Itinerary Day One Saturday 31 August, 2019

7.00am Depart Canberra

12.00 Arrive Narromine Lunch provided “Soul Food”

3.00 Arrive Cobar Check in at Cobar Central Motor Inn

3.45 Depart for Nullogoola Station Rangelands Rehabilitation works Total Grazing Pressure management BBQ Dinner provided

7.30 Return to Cobar

Day Two Sunday 1 September, 2019

7.45am Depart Cobar

8.30am Carbon Farming – Osterley Downs

12.00 Gilgunnia Cluster Fence Project Lunch provided

2.30pm Mawonga Aboriginal Cultural Site

5.30pm Arrive Hillston Check in Hillston Motor Inn on High Dinner provided

Day Three Monday 2 September, 2019

8.00am Depart Hillston

9.00am Mallee fowl protection area

11.30am Depart for Canberra 5.30pm Arrive Canberra – end of tour

Figure 2 Great Cobar Heritage Centre

Night One – 31 August Cobar is situated in the centre of NSW at the crossroads of the Barrier Highway and the Kidman Way. With an area of 45,609 square kilometres, Cobar Shire is approximately two thirds the size of Tasmania. It is home to approximately 4,647 people and the Shire’s prosperity is built around the thriving mining – copper, lead, silver, zinc, gold – and pastoral industries.

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Nullogoola Station – regenerating the rangelands Presented by property owners Dave & Rikki Allen, and Paul Theakston and Brian Dohnt

(Western LLS)

Total Grazing Pressure (TGP) Control Fencing Grazing management is one of the key tools for managing landscape health in rangeland environments, which cover much of western NSW. The term “total grazing pressure” captures the total demand for forage relative to forage supply. Total Grazing Pressure management involves accounting for grazing pressure from feral and native herbivores in addition to domestic stock. Best Practice Management advice for grazing in semi-arid environments is to provide pastures with opportunities for rest and recovery through rotational grazing approaches, as opposed to “set stocking” where pastures are exposed to grazing at all times. There is significant global evidence of the effectiveness of good grazing management in regenerating native pastures and improving resource condition in rangeland environments. Over a period of many years Western Local Land Services, through National Landcare Program funding, has supported landholders in the region to erect TGP fences and implement improved grazing management practices across approximately 1.8m hectares in western NSW. These incentive projects are aimed at achieving sustainable agriculture outcomes and improving and enhancing native vegetation in the region. Scientific evidence has shown increased groundcover outcomes as well as increased soil carbon (for some soil types) resulting from TGP management through fencing. Invasive Native Scrub management Invasive native scrub (INS) is a complex issue which has been affecting large areas of western NSW since the 1800s. The encroachment impacts farm production and the environment, changing what was once a mosaic of open woodlands, open grasslands and shrubland into areas dominated only by thick shrubland. Considerable effort has gone into the research and management of INS, including the regulation of clearing INS. A major consideration to the on-going management of INS is economics, which determines the method and extent of INS management. Dave and Rikki Allen are managing INS on Nullogoola taking into account their grazing enterprise, the INS species, cost-effectiveness of the control method, the resulting grazing benefits and the health of the landscape. The control method involves chaining, which involves dragging a heavy chain between two bulldozers to knock down the INS. This method doesn't kill the INS, however it puts the scrub on the ground, creating a niche for groundcover establishment. The groundcover response allows for good grazing over a number of years until the INS re-grows and hampers groundcover growth again. The area is then chained again to repeat the cycle. This rotational method of INS management is cost-effective and results in grazing benefits and promotes the health of native perennial groundcover.

Figure 3 Rikki Allen beside a fence at Nullogoola

Figure 4 an area that has been chained once, showing scrub laying on

the ground providing a niche for healthy groundcover.

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Nullogoola Station Rangelands Rehabilitation works Presented by Paul Theakston (Rangelands Rehabilitation Officer, Western LLS)

Rangelands rehabilitation works are aimed at preventing further degradation and/or restoring degraded land. The aim is to increase native perennial groundcover, improve landscape function and address the needs of pastoralism and biodiversity. Many of the degradation issues result from legacy degradation from previous droughts (in particular the Federation Drought – late 1890s to early 1900s); overgrazing by domestic, feral and native animals; and poor placement of infrastructure such as roads. There are a number of rehabilitation methods that are used for preventative and restorative work:

Waterponding: Waterponds vary in shape from complete circles to horseshoes. They are used to reclaim clay-pans and scalded areas by holding water on the site. The water sitting within the pond causes the clays to swell and crack and start the recovery process. The introduction of grass and saltbush species whilst waterponding increases the speed of recovery.

Waterspreading: Waterspreading banks are used on low slope country to spread and disperse runoff. This reduces the energy of concentrated flows, minimising soil erosion and improving water infiltration.

Contour Furrowing: Contour furrows are used on gently sloping ridge country. They are formed by a one-pass operation creating a small windrow and rip line. This creates a niche for the establishment and growth of vegetation along the furrow.

Erosion control along linear infrastructure: Linear infrastructure, such as tracks and fence lines, are a major cause of erosion. Erosion control structures prevent this type of erosion by reinstating the direction of natural water flows.

Other works: In some situations the on-ground works need to be designed and laid out according to the unique erosion situation. This may be a combination of the above techniques or a modification of an existing technique.

Ecosystem Management Understanding (EMU)TM: Western Local Land Services has incorporated the EMU approach in some parts of the region. EMU brings a drainage ecosystem perspective and the idea of repairing critical control points.

Figure 5 Water ponding diagram

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Osterley Downs: Carbon Farming Presented by property owner Rob Chambers and Dr Cathy Waters (Leader, Climate

Research, NSW Department of Primary Industries)

Since 2015 landholders in Australia have had the opportunity to diversity their income by reducing emissions or sequestering carbon on their properties in ways which contribute to lowering national greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon abatement activities, sometimes known as carbon farming, involves management change that results in either a reduction in emissions, or capturing and holding (sequestering) carbon in vegetation or soils. Since the Emissions Reduction

Fund was established to address Australia’s international emissions obligations, landholders from western NSW have been early adopters of carbon farming. In fact, in the first ERF Auction in April 2015, carbon projects from this region accounted for approximately 50% of all carbon abatement projects. The property you are visiting today was one of the first, and remains one of the most significant, carbon offset projects in Australia. There are more than 130 carbon farming projects in western NSW, which contribute around 25% of Australia’s carbon abatement. Projects in western NSW are mostly through two vegetation sequestration methods:

Avoided Deforestation method (now closed) – protects native forest in areas that would otherwise be cleared for crops or grassland

Human Induced Regeneration of a permanent even-aged native forest method – involves implementing activities that regenerate native forest on land where regrowth of native forest has been suppressed for at least 10 years

The owner of Osterley Downs, Rob Chambers, is not only an early adopter but an innovator who helped drive the development of appropriate and relevant carbon farming methods. Osterley Downs has an Avoided Deforestation project within a Callitris glauophyilla (Cypress Pine) forest. Contributing more than 1.4 million Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs or tonnes of CO2 equivalent) towards offsetting Australia’s emissions.

Figure 6 Map of carbon projects in western NSW

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Does carbon farming contribute to the resilience of the NSW rangelands? Presented by Dr Cathy Waters

Prioritisation and optimisation of carbon farming.

The spatial extent and rapid expansion of carbon farming across Australia has raised issues over potential future land use in rangelands. Most carbon farming projects in western NSW are long-term (100 years) and concerns over future declines in pastoral land use and negative impacts of biodiversity have been raised. The spatial concentration of projects in western NSW means national abatement may be at risk under future climate change impacts.

A comprehensive and detailed understanding of the spatial prioritisation of carbon farming is currently being undertaken by NSW DPI as part of the NSW DPI Climate Change Strategy. Prioritisation will assist in identifying where and where not to undertake carbon farming at farm and regional scales. Optimisation can maximise the co-benefits and minimise the trade-offs and reduce the risk of pastoralists transitioning to carbon farming. This current research is also developing co-benefit indicators to value stacking carbon farming and verify land management activities. These indicators can also be used to maintain existing markets and gain access market to new emerging environmental service markets.

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Gilgunnia Cluster Fence Presented by Dean Hague (Chair, Gilgunnia Landcare and Pest Animal Group)

and Brian Dohnt (Senior Land Services Officer, Western Local Land Services)

In extensive grazing areas such as western NSW and south west Queensland a growing number of producers are turning to multi species exclusion fencing to help manage both stock losses from wild dogs, and grazing competition from unmanaged herbivores like kangaroos. Although designs of multi species exclusion fences vary, they generally stand around 1.5 – 1.8 m high, often include an APRON on the outside of the fence to prevent animals burrowing underneath and tend to feature smaller hinge-joint squares (15cm) than traditional TGP fences. An effective exclusion barrier will keep pests on the outside of the property boundary but they are not cheap. It is not uncommon to spend $8-9000.00 per kilometre on exclusion fences.

Land managers can erect exclusion fencing around individual properties, or even paddocks, to gain complete control over pests and grazing pressure, or they can form “cluster” groups to erect exclusion fencing around multiple properties. There are two cluster fencing projects in NSW but the most significant, and by far the largest, is the Gilgunnia cluster fencing project in western NSW. The Gilgunnia cluster fence is 210km long and encloses 22 properties and 177,000 ha.

Figure 7 Exclusion fence - Gilgunnia cluster

Figure 8 Dean Hague at the Gilgunnia Cluster fence

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Building a 210km fence around 22 properties

Figure 9 Map of Gilgunnia Cluster fence project

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Kangaroo Management Presented by Fiona Garland (Team Leader, Kangaroo Management, Western LLS)

Kangaroo management and fluctuating kangaroo populations is an ongoing issue for both land managers and regulators in NSW, with significant implications for rural enterprise viability, animal welfare, drought management and landscape health.

Kangaroo population counts in the NSW commercial harvest zones peaked at 17.4 million in 2016, trebling from 5.5 million in 2005, but declining significantly to 12.8 million 2018 due to the drought. The boom/bust of kangaroo populations in NSW (and Australian) landscapes presents a range of issues for land managers, government, regulators and animal welfare.

Total Grazing Pressure (TGP) Kangaroos contribute significantly to Total Grazing Pressure on pastoral lands, impacting on production potential, while providing no value to graziers, meaning that kangaroos are mostly managed as a “pest” component of grazing pressure. Grazing from kangaroos impacts significantly on landholders’ ability to manage landscapes for long term sustainable production or ecological health.

Animal Welfare – the untold story Most Australians are probably unaware of the animal welfare crisis that faces kangaroo populations during droughts when their access to feed and water is greatly reduced. It is estimated that more than 3 million kangaroos have died in NSW over the last two years due to drought, that figure could be as high as 10 million nationally.

Road safety The number of kangaroos lost through road kill is another significant issue for kangaroo management. 90% of all animal collisions in Australia involve macropods. This represents a significant cost to Australian insurance companies each year with a recent report by Huddle Insurance estimating that kangaroo collisions cost Australia $28 million in repair costs and more than $6 million in excess payments each year.

Figure 10 kangaroos die off in poor seasons

Figure 11 Poor kangaroo searching for green pick on the side of the Barrier Highway in western NSW

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The Kangaroo Management Taskforce

The Kangaroo Management Taskforce was formed in September 2016 after a Kangaroo Management Workshop held in Cobar to address growing concerns about the impact of large kangaroo populations. Originally focused on Western NSW, it has grown to have a much broader scope and relevance, in recognition of the fact that kangaroo management is an issue affecting land managers across Australia.

The Taskforce is uniquely made up of all the main stakeholders affected by kangaroo management including: relevant agencies, industry, landholders, welfare agencies, Aboriginal communities as well as both landscape and kangaroo ecologists.

The Taskforce is currently sponsoring a National Kangaroo Symposium on the last day of the Australian Rangeland Society Conference on 5 September as part of a broader project working with national ecologists to address kangaroo management across Australia.

The national project includes another symposium at the Ecological Society of Australia conference in Launceston in November as well as a special edition of Ecological Management and Restoration with a joint Position Statement from significant Australian Scientists and relevant organisations supporting the development of better approaches to kangaroo management.

The Taskforce is also contributing to state based government initiatives to implement research programs, develop collaborative approaches to management and compliance, and increase government support of the commercial kangaroo industry in NSW.

In 2019 the Kangaroo Management Taskforce developed a Strategic Plan with the Mission and Vision as follows:

Mission

The Kangaroo Management Taskforce is working together to

improve kangaroo management to achieve better outcomes

for landscapes, production and kangaroo welfare.

Vision

Healthy, sustainable landscapes; sustainable and productive

agriculture; healthy and sustainable kangaroo populations; a

strong commercial kangaroo industry.

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Mawonga Aboriginal Partnership Presented by Lawrence Clarke

Mawonga is a 22,373 hectare holding in western NSW, 95km north of Hillston, with considerable areas of cultural significance to Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan people.

For Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan people it's a significant part of their traditional Ngurrampaa (Country).

In 2009 the Indigenous Land & Sea Corporation (ILSC) bought Mawonga Station in conjunction with the Australian Government’s Department of Environment which contributed two thirds of the purchase cost under the National Reserve System program. Mawonga was granted to the Winangakirri Aboriginal Corporation (WAC) in 2015

In the past Mawonga was an important place for ceremony, part of a young novice's journey through initiation, for hunting, family and clan interaction. Today it continues to be an important place for teaching, learning and connection for the Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan people.

Regular cultural camps are held there to support the reclamation and passing on of cultural knowledge – strengthening the Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan people's connection with country. Mawonga Station protects significant cultural and natural heritage and adjoins both Yathong and Nombinnie Nature Reserves. In combination this represents one of the largest reserves of mallee in NSW (over 190,000ha). Mawonga is also located in the Cobar Peneplain bioregion – a landscape that's under-represented in Australia's National Reserve System.

Mawonga's large areas of old-growth mallee are home to the nationally vulnerable Malleefowl, and large areas of woodland support threatened woodland dependant birds such as the Grey-crowned Babbler and Hooded Robin. It has numerous small caves, rock shelters and art sites that are a physical reminder to Ngiyampaa people of how their relatives and ancestors lived and travelled.

Since Mawonga was purchased on their behalf, the Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan Traditional Owners have subsequently worked on ecological monitoring and cultural heritage surveys, upgrading the infrastructure, harvesting goats to reduce their impact and training programs to support community members in managing country.

Mawonga is now a self-sufficient base at which the community can hold cultural camps, meetings and training workshops.

Figure 12 Rock shelter on Mawonga country. Photo Lawrence Clarke

Figure 13 inspecting a malleefowl nest during a fauna survey. Photo by Lawrence Clarke

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Mawonga Management Plan

The Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan people have developed a Mawonga Management Plan that will guide their management activities over five years and support the declaration of Mawonga as an Indigenous Protected Area.

They're working in partnership with a range of organisations to manage the land, including re-introducing a traditional burning program that focuses on the health of Malleefowl habitat.

Bush Heritage is one of these partners and has worked with the Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan people in the property purchase, conducting ecological assessments and developing the Mawonga management plan.

We acknowledge and celebrate the significant contributions

Ngiyampaa people make in looking after country and conserving

Australia's biodiversity

Night Two - Hillston

On the banks of the Lachlan River, Hillston is a small town in Carrathool Shire with a population of around 1500 people. Founded in 1863, Hillston is now a major fruit and vegetable producing region thanks to an extensive irrigation system. When John Oxley’s exploration party first visited the area Oxley wrote in his fournal “country uninhabit able and useless for all purposes of civilised man.”

Figure 14 setting small mammal pit traps during a fauna survey. Photo Lawrence Clarke

Figure 15 Hillston sign

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Malleefowl

Presented by David Kellett (Riverina Local Land Services and Chairperson, National

Malleefowl Recovery Team)

Growing to 55-60cm with a weight of up to 2.5kg the Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellate) is a large ground-dwelling bird with strong feet and a short bill. Malleefowl don’t build nests like most other birds. Instead it uses its strong feet to scape large amounts of leaf litter and sand from the ground into a large pile. Their eggs are then laid into a cavity at the top of the mound and covered over. As the leaf litter begins to compost it generates heat and this is used to incubate the eggs, rather than the birds sitting on them. The male Malleefowl checks the temperatures of his breeding mound regularly, and scrapes material on or off to keep the temperature just right.

Conservation status in NSW: Endangered (Commonwealth status: vulnerable)

Although originally found widely throughout Australia, Malleefowl are now mostly limited to areas of inland semi-arid scrub. They prefer a dry environment with low-growing eucalypt trees and shrubs, referred to as mallee country. The population in central NSW has been significantly reduced through land clearance and fox predation and now occurs chiefly in Yathong, Nombinnie and Round Hill NRs and surrounding areas.

A targeted strategy for managing this species has been developed under the Saving Our Species program and key management sites are being identified.

Malleefowl Safe Haven

Riverina Local Land Services, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program, have implemented a project north of Griffith to develop a safe haven for threatened Malleefowl.

This area is where Harold Frith conducted his studies in the 50’s and 60’s and published his book The Malleefowl, the bird that builds an

incubator. Malleefowl have been locally extinct from this area since the 1990s but the plan is to reintroduce the species over the next 12 months.

A feral proof fence spanning 3.6 kilometres was erected around 55 hectares of prime Malleefowl habitat with a plan for adding another 10kms of fencing and protecting another 600 ha into the future. Riverina Local Land Services Officer David Kellett is passionate about Malleefowl conservation and is working with 10 landholders neighbouring the site to curb feral animal predation prior to reintroducing Malleefowl.

Figure 16 Photo by Craig Allen, Bush Heritage Australia

Figure 17 Malleefowl Safe Haven site

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Figures 17 & 18 Landholders David Heath & Rodney Guest

David Heath – landholder following his Grandparents footsteps in Malleefowl conservation, “My Grandparents had the foresight to protect these blocks of Mallee from clearing and over grazing by stock and I’m excited to be part of this project and looking forward to the reintroduction of Malleefowl.”

Neighbouring landholder Rodney Guest remembers exploring Mallee reserves as a young boy in search of Malleefowl nests – an interest he’s still pursuing at almost 60.

On his 2200 hectare property north of Griffith, Mr Guest is one of ten landholders working with Riverina Local Land Services to curb feral animal predation to give Malleefowl a chance at reviving in their native habitat.

“Malleefowl died out in the 1980’s in these reserves, allegedly shot by someone wanting to remember what they tasted like,” Mr Guest recalled.

“They still exist within local ranges but with pressure from feral animals – mainly pigs – they may become locally extinct.”

“We have prime habitat on these reserves. The only thing missing are the birds, so it’s very exciting to think that reintroducing them could be a reality. We hope we can establish a stable safe breeding colony that may also encourage other farmers to preserve habitat on their properties.”

We hope you’ve enjoyed your trip to western NSW.

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The Australian Rangeland Society Conference 2019 acknowledges the support provided to the Western Field Trip by:

Western Local Land Services

Riverina Local Land Services

NSW Department of Primary Industries