Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association

Project Profile

Issues

Barkly Landcare Conservation Association, together with pastoralists and other environmental partners, has developed a comprehensive plan to control the spread of Parkinsonia thorough the Georgina Catchment. This plan will ensure the continued treatment of the weed and contribute significantly to the improvement in condition of native vegetation communities and production in the catchment.

Project Detail

The Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association (BLCA) has been nominated for a National Landcare Award for its work eradicating the troublesome weed Parkinsonia.

Pastoralists in the Georgina Catchment in the Northern Territory have been battling Parkinsonia, a weed of national significance that threatens local production and environmental values, for many years. A prickle bush that forms dense thickets and thrives in waterways, Parkinsonia degrades riparian zones and contributes to accelerated erosion.

The local pastoralists had made a significant investment working on the weeds but struggled to get results on their own. Recognising a need for a coordinated and more strategic approach, pastoralists, BLCA and its partners joined together to bridge the gaps and address this key threatening issue across the Georgina Catchment NT.

Left unmanaged, Parkinsonia has the potential to take over large areas of the Georgina Catchment, reducing the quality of pasture and production values and threatening key native vegetation communities and the world heritage listed Lake Eyre. Parkinsonia was present in nearly all of the major watercourses of the Upper Georgina Catchment and despite previous treatment programs, Parkinsonia infestations continued to spread in the catchment.

The BLCA worked with pastoralists and its partners to undertake four key capacity building activities. A comprehensive map layer was created, pastoralist knowledge was strengthened though workshops and practical learning, a coordinated, catchment wide treatment program was implemented and long-term property weed management plans were developed.

The aim of these activities was to build pastoralist’s capacity to better manage Parkinsonia for the long-term to increase the likelihood of succeeding in eliminating the impacts of Parkinsonia on production and environmental values.

Working together with project partners, BLCA and pastoralists achieved the significant task of surveying and treating the 2,500km of watercourse within the catchment in a single season. As a result the Parkinsonia population has changed significantly with a reduction in its productivity estimated to be in the tens of millions of seed in the 2009 season alone.

A long-term management strategy is now in place which sees activity continuing beyond the life of the project. Pastoralists implement property weed management plans that incorporate monitoring sites which provide valuable information to guide future management actions. Working together BLCA and pastoralists in the Georgina are looking forward to a healthier environment, a stronger industry and a brighter, more sustainable future.

The Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association project is one of 88 finalists in the National Landcare Awards to be announced in Canberra on 24 June 2010. Commencing in 1991, the Awards celebrate the achievements of individuals and groups that make a valuable contribution to the land and coast where they live and work.

Photography

Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association