Many landholders don’t understand the relationships between the plants that grow in the paddocks and the soils that they grow in. So Hay Plains Landcare hosted a hands-on soil biology workshop to provide participants with a better understanding of the importance of soil biology and the various components of soil biology, including soil microbes, soil…
When the new Local Landcare Coordinator program commenced, our Coordinators worked with all the Landcare groups in our region to understand their needs and interests, the issues they faced and the topics they would like to learn more about. This information was very helpful in guiding the development of future projects and grant applications, but…
Many native paddock trees and remnant forest areas across the Murrumbidgee region are in decline. With the long drought and bushfires in 2020, replanting native trees in our rural landscape is a fundamental step in helping our natural ecosystems recover. The ending of the drought has placed enormous pressure on nurseries across the region to…
The Dung Beetle Ecosystem Engineers group was established in 2019, led by Charles Sturt University. The group aims to understand the current distribution of dung beetle species introduced to Australia, and evaluate new species of dung beetle for importation and release into Australia. They also want to work with farming and land management groups to…
One simple theme which has come up again and again when we ask Landcare members about their training interests is the desire to learn basic skills they can use on their property – such as welding. Knowing that the local Tafe ran welding courses, we decided to contact them and see whether we could arrange…
Leeton’s locals know Fivebough Wetlands as a swamp and very few local people know its significance on the global stage as a RAMSAR site. This project aimed to raise the profile of Fivebough Wetlands, helping Leeton find greater pride in the site. A local artist designed a banner for Fivebough which features local and migratory…
The humane destruction of livestock, animals caught in traps or pest animals on the farm requires qualified, licensed and capable firearms operators. During times of economic depression or emergency, stockowners are faced with the difficult decision of on-farm destruction of their animals. Pest animals also require the use of firearms, in order to prevent the…
Mistletoe is a very misunderstood plant. For this reason, people often chop it out of trees or even worse they remove the whole tree. Yet mistletoe is considered an ecological keystone for biodiversity and has been eaten by Aboriginal people for thousands of years. It plays a key role in providing food, habitat, biodiversity and…
Best practice pasture management has been linked to improved soil health in agricultural landscapes. To investigate this, we assessed the soil chemistry and biology of four different land management systems: alley plantings, pasture cropping, standard pastures, and native woodland. The different systems were on the properties of five landholders and a state forest in Boree…
The Dunns Road fire started in a private pine plantation near Ellerslie Nature Reserve, located in the SW Slopes near Adelong, on 31st December and travelled in a southwesterly direction, threatening the townships of Batlow and Tumbarumba, and burning out an area of 333,940 ha in total. Catastrophic fire weather on the 4th January resulted…