Maintaining Australia’s Biodiversity
Hotspots
Landholder Stewardship
January 2013
Laura White
Ballina
WetlandCare Australia
[email protected]
PO Box 114
Ballina 2478
02 6681 6169
Landholder Stewardship – A Success Story for Maintaining
Australia’s Biodiversity
WetlandCare Australia has successfully completed administration of the Australian
Government’s Maintaining Australia’s Biodiversity Hotspots program for the Torrington and
Ebor-Dorrigo-Coffs Coast regions. The program consisted of a competitive bid process to
assist landholders to protect and restore biodiversity on their land.
WetlandCare Australia undertook assessment and preparation of site action plans for
numerous properties and developed and managed a competitive bidding process resulting in
23 landholder stewardship agreements. Successful landholders were contracted to
undertake wetland rehabilitation, weed and pest control, grazing exclusion and fire
management on over 3,700 ha of high conservation value native vegetation communities.
The three year program provided financial support and technical advice to assist landholders
to protect and restore areas of endangered ecological communities and key habitat for rare
and threatened flora and fauna species. Landholders were engaged to carry out identified
priority management actions including regeneration of native vegetation, cattle exclusion
fencing, control of environmental weeds and active fire management. The program resulted
in an excellent level of achievement of biodiversity outcomes and strong capacity building
among landholders.
In their annual reporting and during follow up site visits by WetlandCare Australia,
landholders enthusiastically demonstrated excellent outcomes of management actions.
Before and after photographs illustrate the removal of vast tracts of weeds and replacement
with thriving native vegetation communities and dramatic community recovery following the
removal of stock and vertebrate pests. Ecological assessments by WetlandCare Australia at
the end of the program confirmed that weed cover and pest impacts had dropped
significantly and that native vegetation recruitment rates had substantially increased.
The landholder stewardship model resulted in excellent capacity building among landholders
as well as exceptional environmental outcomes. Supporting landholders to take a key role in
planning, managing and carrying out biodiversity works on their own properties has given
them a sense of responsibility and pride in their achievements. This process has increased
the knowledge, skills and capability of landholders to manage biodiversity and has enhanced
their commitment to maintaining the results over the long term.
Landholders involved in this program are continuing to maintain the results using their own
resources, safeguarding the original project investment and ensuring that biodiversity
outcomes persist over the long-term. This framework also ensured efficiency of works in
terms of timing, effort and cost. Participants working on their own land meant that they were
consistently present to carry out works at appropriate times, to regularly monitor results and
to carry out follow-up activities on an as-needs basis.
WetlandCare Australia: Specialising in wetland management and rehabilitation since 1991
Page 1
Feedback from landholder participants involved in the project was
overwhelmingly positive, indicating that the project facilitated a unique winwin situation, achieving successful outcomes from an environmental
management viewpoint as well as offering a rewarding experience for program
participants.
Landholder testimonials
“This was a great program and the funding genuinely allowed us to do works we would
not have been able to do without it for the benefit of biodiversity.”
“I feel a great deal of pride in contributing to preserve biodiversity in my care.”
“Receiving MABH funding was a key to being recognised as a worthwhile project and
encouraged further support from other funding bodies. Community use and involvement
in the site has increased and vehicle damage and tree removal has ceased – a great
outcome!”
“The property is now under a voluntary conservation agreement and we continue to work
on the land ourselves and apply for further grants to maintain and extend the benefits
achieved in this grant.”
“The program highlighted issues we needed to deal with and improved our
understanding of local ecology and biodiversity.”
Photos taken by a landholder before and after MABH regeneration works, showing
replacement of a heavy lantana infestation with a native vegetation community with healthy
recruitment.
WetlandCare Australia: Specialising in wetland management and rehabilitation since 1991
Page 2
The nationally endangered shrub granite boronia (Boronia granitica) is threatened by
unmanaged grazing by domestic stock and feral goats. The MABH program has enabled
landholders to protect key populations of this species. Conservation of threatened species
on private lands is a vitally important part of successful biodiversity recovery in Australia.
A MABH landholder shares one of the many spectacular sights on his unique property with
WetlandCare Australia staff during a site visit.
WetlandCare Australia: Specialising in wetland management and rehabilitation since 1991
Page 3
The MABH program allowed landholders to take an innovative, flexible and efficient
approach in completing management actions and gave them a sense of pride in their
biodiversity achievements.
An area of nationally endangered montane wetland before (left) and one year after cattle
exclusion fencing under the MAHB program (right), showing excellent recovery of sphagnum
moss and other wetland flora.
WetlandCare Australia: Specialising in wetland management and rehabilitation since 1991
Page 4