Pastoral Landcare - Katherine Region

"Being a part of the Roper group allows us to be involved in and participate in a cohesive and planned approach to land management and to be acknowledged as pastoralists doing something about regional problems."

"Membership allows me to participate and contribute to sustainable land management in the Roper catchment."

(quotes from Roper River Landcare Group members)

Roper River Landcare Group (RRLG)

The Roper River Landcare group formed 10 years ago in response to the noxious weed Parkinsonia (Parkinsonia aculeata).

Some of the key issues for the Group today include feral animal control, tourism impacts and water quality, maintaining barramundi stocks, reducing litter and controlling erosion, getting local children involved in the Landcare movement and promoting the group and their activities.

The group has undertaken numerous projects including the development and implementation of a stock exclusion fencing strategy The Roper River Landcare Group has been implementing this strategy for 7 years with the support of the Natural Heritage Trust with approx 41,600 ha of riparian habitat protected to date along the Roper, Waterhouse, Jalboi and Hodgson rivers and Flying Fox and Elsey creeks.

12 pastoral properties have been involved in the program to date with further Envirofund and Natural Heritage Trust projects being completed in 2004-2005 including Hodgson River, Beswick Creek, a series of billabongs and Lake Duggan.

Much work has been done on Parkinsonia control through mechanical, chemical and biological methods. A comprehensive assessment of riparian health in the catchment has been undertaken (Faulks 2001).

Other activities include: monitoring of biodiversity within the catchment; farm forestry trials; fencing of fresh water lake systems and the preparation and recent launch of the Roper River Catchment Natural Resource Management Plan (Kraatz 2004).

With the support of the RRLG and the community, the kids from Mataranka Primary school were awarded the 2003 NT Westpac Landcare Education Award for their “Tall Timbers Project”.

The current priority areas for the Roper River Landcare Group are:

Weed management and control
Feral animal management and control
Riparian health
Getting people involved in NRM
Managing the impacts of increasing visitor numbers

Please download the latest Roper River Landcare Group Newsletter.

Victoria River District Conservation Association (VRDCA):

The VRDCA was established in 1987 by land managers and pastoralists in the Victoria River district of the NT.

The initial focus of the group was improved rangeland management and erosion control. The focus has widened to include all aspects of natural resource management (NRM) and includes members from a wide range of organizations and individuals with an
interest in regional NRM issues.

The current membership manages approximately 83% of the total
land area of the VRD and includes all major categories of
district land use. The Victoria River District
is an area of approximately 140,000 km 2 or about twice
the size of Tasmania! This presents a major challenge for
the association and their coordinator.

The VRDCA has been successful in attracting funding for
many projects that have increased the understanding of
NRM in the region. The group has been active in formulating
strategic direction for the region and this is best seen with
the recent release of the VRD Natural Resource Plan
(2004).

Current projects include weed, erosion and feral animal management; development of Environmental
Management Systems (EMS); collaboration with TS-CRC in development of best practice principles for
industry; collaboration and support for PhD students focused on riparian fencing, the purple crowned
fairy wren and others.

Please have a look at the latest VRDCA eNews and at the second part of our series about Climate and Grazing in
Australia’s Rangelands.

The VRDCA vision:

To ensure sustainable natural resource management by all users whilst increasing
regional productivity and local community viability for the benefit of the current and
future generations.