Native Vegetation Management · currently available in each natural resource management sub-region to assist in the technical on-ground management of native vegetation in light of

Native Vegetation ManagementA needs analysis of regional service delivery in

Northern Territory

BUSHCARE SUPPORT 2003

CONTENT

STATE SUMMARY 3

DARWIN - DALY – TIWI SUB-REGION 7

SAVANNA SUB-REGION 23

ARID SUB-REGION 37

Supported by the Commonwealth Government through

Bushcare: The National Vegetation Initiative, a program of the Natural Heritage Trust.

Bushcare is administered by Environment Australia.

June 2003

NATIVE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT:Northern Territory

ii

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this summary are those of the author and do not necessarily representthe views of Greening Australia or the Commonwealth Government. The information containedin this summary is provided for the purpose of general information, research and policydevelopment. Greening Australia and the Commonwealth Government and the author do notaccept liability for any person's use or reliance upon the content of this summary.

The information provided in this document has been collected in good faith from relevantregional contacts, existing documentation and project officers. Neither the authors norGreening Australia guarantees that the information provided is complete and do not accept anyresponsibility for omissions in the content or errors in the source data. Inclusion or exclusionof data should not be regarded in any way as a recommendation or reflect on the quality of theservice or person mentioned.

NATIVE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT:Darwin/Daly/Tiwi Sub-region - Northern Territory

3

STATE SUMMARY

Key vegetation management issues

Introduction

As part of the Bushcare Support contract, Greening Australia was contracted by EnvironmentAustralia to develop regional vegetation management summaries for each of the three sub-regions in the Northern Territory. Each summary provides a snapshot of the ‘infrastructure’currently available in each natural resource management sub-region to assist in the technicalon-ground management of native vegetation in light of 5.5 years of Natural Heritage Trustinvestment in the regions. The snapshots have been prepared by Greening Australia staff inconsultation with key regional stakeholders. This document, Native vegetation management: ANeeds Analysis Of Regional Service Delivery In the Northern Territory represents theconclusions of this process.

The landscapes of the Northern Territory are largely intact, thus providing unique opportunitiesand engendering special responsibilities to develop genuinely integrated approaches toconservation planning and implementation. Options have not yet been forfeited, although ratesof landscape modification are increasing rapidly in some regions.

Special emphasis is placed on projects that set in place processes for engaging communitysupport, and involvement, in regional conservation and development plans that are appropriateto, and recognise the special needs and skills of small remote populations.

In particular funding is sort to support the efforts of Aboriginal communities to ensure the long-term sustainability of traditional and commercial use of living resources and soundmanagement of their lands.

Investment is also being channelled into actions that seek to avoid the emergence ofunsustainable practices, thus generating greater economic and environmental returns to theTerritory community than belated, expensive and often ineffectual attempts at rehabilitation.

Natural resource management issues

In the Northern Territory wide scale land degradation from land clearing, experienced in manyregions of Australia, has generally been avoided. The vast majority of tree species and coverthat existed in the Territory before 1788 can still be found. The Territory’s low rate ofdispersed past settlement, vast land mass and climatic factors have helped to protect manyof its fragile ecosystems.

While past circumstances have minimised impacts on the Territory’s wide range of biodiversity,a strong emphasis is now being placed on the protection of ecosystems endemic to theTerritory from threats such as uncontrolled wild fires over extensive areas, introduced weeds(for example the spread of the weed Mimosa pigra); feral animals/pests (e.g. wild pigs,buffalo, feral cats, camels, horses, donkeys, rabbits, foxes and cane toads); erosion andreduced habitat for many species, to name a few.

The land mass of the Northern Territory contains 23 of Australia’s 80 nationally recognisedbio-geographic regions. Eleven of these regions are contained entirely within the Territory andthe other 12 span borders with other States. These regions exhibit a total of 112 vegetationtypes, many of which occur nowhere else in Australia. It is imperative that the Territoryprotects these regions and retains its unique biodiversity.

Equally important are essential habitats; habitats without which Australia would lose manyspecies, or have them suffer catastrophic declines. These include caves such as thatharbouring the largest known colony of the threatened Ghost Bat, and nesting rookeries forsea and water birds.


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Northern Territory priorities

Fire managementWild fire is the most significant environmental factor affecting the north Australian biota. Everyyear at the conclusion of the Wet season, fires affect a large percentage of the Humid Tropicand Semi-Arid Tropic Zones of the Northern Territory. As a result of infrastructure developmentwith respect to roads there is now more access and activity in remote areas which result inmore extensive fires. In the higher rainfall areas to the north, flammable grassy weeds such asMission (Pennisetum polystachion) and Gamba (Andropogon gayanus) grass are spreading atalarming rates, compounding the fire problem.

Strategic vegetation retentionMost of the bioregions within the Northern Territory are relatively intact, however there arepresently many bioregions coming under increased pressure due to land clearing. Thechallenge will be to develop design principles for vegetation retention to optimise biodiversitypersistence.

Weed controlThere are a number of factors relevant to weed management in the Northern Territory.

Over half of the Territory, including 85 per cent of the coastline and hence most of theimportant sub-coastal wetlands, is Aboriginal-owned land. Much of this land is resumedpastoral land with pre-existing weed infestations, including deliberately introduced pasturegrasses and legumes.

Pastoralism is the most extensive form of agriculture in the Northern Territory, with free-ranging cattle and buffalo herds on very large properties. This precipitates widespreaddisturbance and distribution of weed propagules by stock on both Aboriginal and pastoral land.There is a low economic base per unit area to fund weed management.

The Northern Territory’s unique combination of tropical climate, vast area, low populationdensity, high level of environmental disturbance, low economic productivity per unit area andseasonal inaccessibility make it especially susceptible to intractable weed invasions thatthreaten economic sustainability and biological diversity.

Feral animals such as wild pigs, buffalo horses, donkeys and camels have a devastating effecton vegetation communities in the Northern Territory through overgrazing, spread of weeds andsoil erosion.

Key gaps in resources and infrastructure

Apart from the concerns raised in the current provision issues, there are presently (as of 30June 2003) no major inhibiting gaps in the infrastructure of the Northern Territory, with theexception of regional planning. However, care will need to be taken to ensure that existinginfrastructure, particularly seedbanks and indigenous plant nurseries, continue receiveadequate funding.

There is presently no regional plan in place for the Northern Territory. Regional communitygroups are waiting on the Northern Territory Government (Department of Infrastructure,Planning and Environment ) and the Landcare Council of the Northern Territory (LCNT) toformalise the proposed sub-regions and distribute the limited funding available. This delay isthe greatest impediment with respect to the regional community delivering on-groundoutcomes.

Natural Heritage Trust (Phase One) funding has facilitated a regional network that jointlycontributed to the comprehensive natural resource management infrastructure currently inplace regarding vegetation management. This infrastructure is, at present, likely to be severelyreduced with respect to Facilitator/Coordinator positions. The proposed interim fundingprocess is likely to greatly reduce the quantity and quality of vegetation management deliveryin this region.


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Key recommendations

Key recommendations that have been identified through this process including that:

1. a determined effort is required to facilitate local action plan (LAP) groups, tocoordinate and develop interim natural resource management plans within the sub-regions and to facilitate the implementation of these strategic regional plans.

2. continued funding is required for key experienced staff within the existing extensionnetworks. These staff are the vital link in the development of Regional naturalresource management Plans. They are the conduit to the community and without themcommunity input into these plans will be far from optimum.

3. continued funding is required for existing infrastructure, particularly seedbanks andindigenous plant nurseries to support community vegetation management in the longterm.

4. research needs to be undertaken into:

• appropriate fire regimes in the Northern Territory to facilitate the long-termconservation of biodiversity. This research needs to consider cross-tenure firemanagement planning, traditional burning and the integration of indigenousperspectives on landscape health and fire regimes into regional fire managementplanning. The development of sustainable fire strategies is seen as the major keyin maintaining biodiversity in these landscapes.

Based on this research, practical guidelines are also required for land managersresponsible for implementing bushfire management in many regions of theNorthern Territory; and

• Landscape designs that balance sustainable tropical agricultural systems with theconservation of biodiversity and responsibe management of the NorthernTerritories soil/water resources.

5. greater effort is required to enforce the new Northern Territory Weeds Act, withparticular focus being given to the development and implementation of practical,realistic and achievable management plans for major noxious weeds. Implementationof these plans requires a holistic approach involving of government, industry and thecommunity, if this legislation is to be implemented successfully.

6. support needs to be given to the development of a sustainable native grass industry inthe Northern Territory. This support includes continued research into native grassesand the exploration of opportunities for pastoral properties, Landcare groups, remoteAboriginal communities, and other landholders, to generate income from theharvesting or growing of native grasses.

7. increase support for community organisations to deliver community training invegetation management that is flexible and responsive to the needs of landmanagers.

Greening Australia Northern TerritoryJune 2003


Northern Territory - Daly Darwin Tiwi



7

DARWIN - DALY – TIWI SUB-REGION

Regional context

The Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region comprises an area of 107,696 square kilometres andencompasses approximately eight per cent of the Northern Territory landmass. The regionsupports four bioregions as per Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia (IBRA)classification. These bioregions encompass a variety of habitats ranging from extensivewetlands and open and closed woodlands to monsoon forest pockets and sandstoneescarpment. The Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region is situated within the Wet/Dry Tropics and assuch is directly affected by the yearly monsoonal weather event providing an average rainfall ofapproximately 1,710 millimetres per year.

The Top End region (Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region) has numerous organisations, groups andindividuals contributing to vegetation management. These include:

• four local government agencies including Darwin and Palmerston City Councils andLitchfield and Coomalie Shire Councils;

• The Northern Land Council (NLC) – Caring for Country Unit;

• Environment Australia, Kakadu National Park;

• Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment (DIPE), including the Parksand Wildlife Commission Northern Territory (PWCNT), Landcare, Coastcare, Bushcareand Rivercare;

• Department of Business, Industry, Resources and Development (DBIRD);

• two non-government conservation organisations. The Environment Centre of theNorthern Territory (ECNT) and Conservation Volunteers Australia;

• coastal and marine network;

• 18 Landcare groups;

• Greening Australia Northern Territory (GANT) through the Bushcare Support, AboriginalLandcare Education Program (ALEP), Farm Forestry and Waterwatch initiatives;

• six indigenous organisations; and

• landholders (Land for Wildlife) and individuals.

Current landuse

Current land tenure in the Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region is primarily held under pastoral lease,Aboriginal Land Trusts or conservation and recreation reserves, with localised mining leasesand freehold title. Pastoral activity is generally extensive cattle grazing, with low stocking ratesover semi-natural rangelands. Land clearing for dry-land cropping, pasture improvement andhorticultural activity is restricted largely to the Daly Basin (cropping) and the Darwin rural area(horticulture). There have also been minor forestry enterprises for timber production in the TopEnd, primarily restricted to the Darwin rural area and the Tiwi Islands. Aboriginal lands supporta variety of uses, mainly as traditional or semi-traditional living areas with portions under cattlegrazing and mining.

Modification rates of landscapes in the Darwin Region have increased dramatically in recentyears mainly due to land clearing for intensive horticulture and beef cattle production on exoticpastures. Further pressure on native vegetation comes from the expansion of urban and ruralliving areas in the Palmerston, Coomalie and Litchfield Shires, and rural block developments inthe Daly, Marrakai and Finnis River areas.


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Landuse in the region can be summarised by the following:

• grazing and broadacre cropping;

• traditional/cultural indigenous landuse;

• intensive horticultural enterprise including agroforestry;

• mining;

• Territory and National Parks;

• tourism/recreational activities; and

• residential and industrial property.

Key stakeholders

The Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region contains a broad variety of stakeholders engaged in nativevegetation management, ranging from small private landholders involved in the ‘Land forWildlife’ scheme to indigenous associations managing large tracts of land. A stakeholder listis contained within this summary listing key contacts and groups.

Key statistics

The Natural Heritage Trust has funded a total of 47 projects in the Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-regionduring the 2001-2002 funding period. These have been primarily funded through the Bushcareand the National Landcare programs. However, funding has also been allocated for severalother programs including Rivercare, Farm Forestry and Fisheries Action. Of these, GreeningAustralia Northern Territory has assisted 17 projects through Bushcare Support. SeveralCoastcare and unfunded projects have also been assisted during this period as well asongoing Natural Heritage Trust projects from previous funding rounds.

The break down of these 47 projects across program areas is shown below.

Program Number of Projects % of total Projects

Bushcare: The National Vegetation Initiative 17 36%

National Landcare Program 18 38%

Rivercare 4 9%

Farm Forestry 1 2%

Fisheries Action 2 4%

Waterwatch 5 11%

Total Natural heritage Trust Projects 47 100%* Data sourced from Dept. Infrastructure, Planning and Environment and Bushcare Support Progress Reports.

* Data representative of one year of funding only as Natural Heritage Trust lists provided are not accurate.

Bushcare Support in the Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region conducted a total of 21 training activitieswith 181 participants during 2001-2002. The activities focussed on seed collection, nativeflora identification, plant propagation, nursery techniques, irrigation installation, small nurseryconstruction and direct seeding. Bushcare Support has also conducted 13 school-basedprojects during 2001-2002 with 218 students participating.


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Key vegetation issues

Natural resource management challenges and issuesThe Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region has numerous natural resource management and vegetationmanagement issues that have been identified through community Landcare workshops (May2001). The Top End has, to date, avoided the extensive land degradation experienced bysouthern states primarily due to climate and population factors that have inhibited large-scaledevelopment. Although the vast majority of Top End vegetation is still predominately intact it isaffected, impacted upon and degraded by the following factors:

• uncontrolled wildfires;

• noxious weeds;

• feral animals;

• inappropriate clearing of remnant vegetation;

• loss of natural resource management expertise from Government and non-governmentorganisations;

• lack of regional natural resource management infrastructure and environmentaleducation strategies;

• loss of traditional indigenous knowledge and regimes; and

• imbalance of funding priorities.

Fire is still the most significant environmental factor affecting the vegetation of the DarwinRegion, which has a high annual rainfall (1,710 millimetres), producing vigorous understoreygrowth including weeds. Even though land managers are more aware of the detrimental effectsof fire on the flora and there are more strategic approaches to fire management, there is stillscope for more extensive and strategic fire management in this region.

Weed control is another significant factor affecting the vegetation of the Darwin Region. Thehigh rainfall promotes prolific weed growth and inaccessibility during the wet season createsproblems in the critical control period of these weeds. This high rainfall zone harbours a suiteof very aggressive weed species that have high fuel loads in the dry and compound theintensive fire problems that abound. Weed infestations occur extensively over this vast regionand there are very few resources to tackle the problem.

Feral animal control is a daily task for most land managers in the Top End, primarily withrespect to wild pigs (Sus scrufa). The Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region however, is presently facing acatastrophic event with the rapid migration of the Cane Toad (Bufus marinus) from the easternseaboard. The environmental implications of this invasion are unknown, although detrimentalimpacts to native fauna have already been realised in the Arnhemland and Katherine regions.

Inappropriate land clearing has been a major concern within the Darwin rural and Daly areasfor some time. Recent Northern Territory Government initiatives to regulate this have resultedin native vegetation clearing controls being implemented.

The loss of natural resource management expertise has been an ongoing issue within the TopEnd network and was recognised as high importance at the regional community Landcareworkshop (May 2001). The lack of sustained funding by initiatives such as Natural HeritageTrust is the major contributing factor to the exodus of these professionals to more stableindustry sectors, generally interstate. Many Natural Heritage Trust fundedcoordinators/facilitators, including Bushcare Support officers, are currently in thispredicament.


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The Landcare Council of the Northern Territory has nominated the Territory as one region withfour proposed sub-regions under the Natural Heritage Trust (Phase 2) regional deliveryproposal. The Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region is one of these. To date no local action plans existfor the delivery of the new regional proposal. Environmental education in the sub-region is alsolacking with no community strategy or school curriculum in place to facilitate this. The onlyinitiative in place is the Junior Ranger Program that is run by the Parks and WildlifeCommission of Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment and is primarily faunaorientated. Bushcare Support was the only initiative in the region offering vegetationawareness activities during Natural Heritage Trust (Phase One). It also conducted numerousschool-based activities during its contract. The end of Bushcare Support will further erode theminimal infrastructure in place for this instrumental outcome.

The natural resource management network in the Top End sees the loss of traditionalindigenous knowledge and practices as an important issue. Several Natural Heritage Trustprojects have been funded to address this issue, but ongoing funding and support will berequired to facilitate the incorporation of this knowledge into mainstream natural resourcemanagement.

Traditional funding regimes have generally prioritised reactive works rather than proactiveaction with respect to native vegetation. However, because this sub-regions vegetation isrelatively intact the Top End natural resource management network is of the opinion that itshould adopt a “protect rather than repair” agenda with respect to native vegetation.

The challenge is to develop design principles for vegetation retention and protection thatoptimise biodiversity persistence while maintaining sustainable development whether it isintensive grazing, horticulture or forestry.

Regional response

The Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region has probably been one of the most active regions per capita inAustralia under the Natural Heritage Trust (Phase One) model. Although many Natural HeritageTrust funded projects have been undertaken in the region this has not transpired into anyformulative process leading to the development of Local Action Planning groups or catchmentauthorities, as has been the experience in most other States.

Natural resource management planning within the Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region has generallybeen restricted to specific project based management plans. As yet no sub-regional planshave been developed for Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region.

The Landcare Council of the Northern Territory (LCNT) is presently deliberating on the deliverymodel for Natural Heritage Trust (Phase 2) within the proposed sub-regions.

Key documents

Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region guiding strategies

Strategy Description/comment

Regional land use objectives These documents used in natural resourcemanagement regional planning and as aguide to plan and develop Natural HeritageTrust applications.

Rapid Creek Management Plan As a guide to developing implementationplans for catchments.

Draft Ludmilla Creek CatchmentManagement Plan

As above

Mitchell Creek Parkland Northern TerritoryDrainage and Environmental Study

As above


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Duke Street Rainforest Rehabilitation Project(draft).

As a guide to developing implementationplans for urban remnant vegetation patches.

Integrated Catchment Management Plan forMary River

As a guide to developing implementationplans for catchments.

Vegetation maps for Darwin, Palmerston andLitchfield Municipalities. Report on‘Remnant Vegetation Survey Darwin toPalmerston Region’

As a guide to strategically retain vegetationin regard to development in these areas.

Litchfield Vegetation Management Strategy(Draft). 2001

A guide to Natural Heritage Protection Sitesfor strategic vegetation retention andprotection.

The Northern Territory Weeds ManagementStrategy 1996 – 2005.

Northern Territory Weeds Act

Northern Territory Government Weed controlregime.

Northern Territory Land Clearing Guidelines,Department of Infrastructure, Planning andEnvironment.

Native Vegetation Clearing Controls

Northern Territory Bushfires Act These documents used in natural resourcemanagement regional planning and as aguide to plan and develop Natural HeritageTrust applications.

Issues and priorities and action plans fromcommunity Landcare workshops in Darwin

As above

Department of Infrastructure Planning andEnvironment, Natural Resources Division -Directions Paper, January 2000 - outlinespriority areas for regional natural resourcemanagement planning

As above

Northern Territory Planning Act As above

Summary of Issues AffectingConservation/Land Resource ManagementPriorities for Northern Territory Bioregions inrelation to Natural Heritage Trust projects.

As above

Pastoral Land Act As above


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Regional resources and infrastructure

The following table contains information relevant to the Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region.

Service No. Description/comment

Seed SupplyServices

Seedbanks 2 There are currently two operational seedbanks within the Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region.

A commercial seedbank run by Top End Seeds.

A community seedbank housed at Greening Australia NorthernTerritory’s Darwin Bushcare Support Centre.

Collectors 2 Top End Seeds are the commercial collector in this sub-regionfacilitating requirements for the Mining industry and some NaturalHeritage Trust projects. Seed is generally not of localprovenance.

Greening Australia Northern Territory collect predominantly toproduce local provenanced stock for Natural Heritage Trustprojects.

Nurseries

Commercial 5 At present there are five Nurseries / Garden Centres within thesub-region generally supplying non local provenanced and hybridnatives. Several are currently working towards AGCAS / NIASAaccreditation.

Community 1 Greening Australia Northern Territory Bushcare Support centresupply local provenanced stock to Natural Heritage Trust andother projects. Nursery currently working towards NIASAaccreditation.

Direct SeedingInfrastructure

Commercial 4 Top End Seeds provide a direct seeding service.

Greening Australia Northern Territory’s Environmental Servicesundertake contract works.

Gimbells Pty Ltd provide a direct seeding service.

Grass Growers Northern Territory provide a direct seeding service.

Greening Australia Northern Territory has four Grass Seedharvesters, two of which are available to pastoral landcaregroups.

Equipment Hire 1 Greening Australia Northern Territory has a seeder available forhire to industry or loan to Natural Heritage Trust projects.

VegetationManagementContractors

Commercial 1 A single contractor undertakes vegetation management withrespect to weed control and revegetation activities in the sub-region.

Greening Australia Northern Territory Environmental Services


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Weed ControlContractors

5 Contractors within the region who undertake weed control works.

Specialist Weed Control

Wildman Land Management

Territory Weed Management

Murray Pest and Weed Control

Northern Territory Pest and Weed Control

Technical Adviceand Services

11 A total of five publicly (Natural Heritage Trust) funded individualssupply locally specific technical advice, whilst six commercialcompanies have consultants providing general fee for serviceadvice.

VegetationManagementTraining Providers

4 Training providers for the sub-region are:

Northern Territory University (NTU)

Tiwi Training and Employment

Stringybark Training

Greening Australia Northern Territory – Bushcare Support

Current provision issues

Regional provision issues associated with the aforementioned services.

Seed supply servicesThe Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment through Parks and WildlifeCommission Northern Territory issue permits for the collection of seed in this region. GreeningAustralia Northern Territory has previously had a verbal agreement with the Parks and WildlifeCommission Northern Territory Director to collect seed ad hoc. Greening Australia NorthernTerritory is presently formalising this agreement to facilitate the issue of specific permits forits staff.

NurseriesMost commercial nurseries in the Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region do not supply locallyprovenanced species for projects and tend to concentrate on the production and sale of non-endemic or hybrid natives from eastern Australia.

Direct seeding infrastructureAlthough several contractors promote native direct seeding capabilities the demand for thisservice in the Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region is negligible due to vegetation cover being primarilyintact. Most government contract direct seeding works are generally roadside revegetation thathas been undertaken by Greening Australia Northern Territory’s Environmental Servicesdivision. Mining rehabilitation is generally done in-house or by Top End Seeds.

Vegetation management contractorsThe majority of work performed in the Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region is generally weed control. Assuch, the regions contractors are adept at this but possess few skills with respect to strategicnative revegetation management. Greening Australia Northern Territory’s EnvironmentalServices division is currently the only known contractor able to facilitate this requirement.


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Technical adviceFive Natural Heritage Trust funded officers (Facilitators/Coordinators) are the primary source ofnative vegetation management advice in the Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region. A comprehensiverange of advice and services are available through the Landcare, Bushcare and BushcareSupport networks. As Natural Heritage Trust funding for these positions is still uncertain it ismost likely that this service will be greatly reduced or non-existent after 30 June 2003.Projects will most likely have to rely on fee for service consultants to provide technical supportfor their projects.

TrainingAlthough comprehensive training is available through several providers on a fee for servicebasis, as of 30 June 2003 no vegetation management training services will be freely availableto Landcare groups, schools or community organisations as Bushcare Support facilitated this.

Key Gaps and recommendations

Key gapsApart from the concerns raised in the current provision issues there are presently no majorinhibiting gaps in the infrastructure of this sub-region, prior to 30 June 2003, with theexception of regional planning.

There is presently no regional plan in place for the proposed Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region.Regional community groups are presently waiting on the Northern Territory Government(Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment) and the Landcare Council of theNorthern Territory (LCNT) to formalise the proposed sub-regions and distribute the limitedfunding available. This delay is the greatest impediment with respect to the regionalcommunity delivering on-ground outcomes.

Natural Heritage Trust (Phase One) funding has facilitated a regional network that has jointlycontributed to the comprehensive natural resource management infrastructure currently inplace with respect to vegetation management. This infrastructure is, at present, likely to beseverely reduced with respect to facilitator/coordinator positions.

The proposed interim funding process is likely to greatly reduce the quantity and quality ofvegetation management delivery in this sub-region.

RecommendationsThe Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region requires a determined effort on behalf of those responsible tocoordinate the development of Interim Natural Resource Management and Local ActionPlanning groups within the sub-region to facilitate the development and implementation ofstrategic regional plans.

Key experienced staff with extensive networks will be the vital lynch pin in the development ofregional natural resource management plans. They are the link to the community and withoutthem community input into these plans will be far from optimum. If any of the priority issues ofthe regions are to be addressed in a strategic manner, then the most important task will be tofund these key positions.

NATIVE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT:Darwin/Daly/Tiwi Sub-region – Northern Territory

15

Key contacts

Vegetation management network for the Darwin-Daly-Tiwi sub-region.

Organisation Contact Relationship Address Phone / Fax Email

Northern TerritoryBushcareCoordinator

Bill Panton Strategic development,integration of Bushcare andother programs.

PWCNTPO Box 496Palmerston NT 0831

08 89994477 [email protected]

GANT OperationsManager

Mike Clark Chairman, Darwin WeedsAdvisory Board. Chairman,NT Forestry and TimberProducts Network. LitchfieldVegetation ManagementStrategy Working Group.Coordinator Regional FarmForestry Support.

Greening Australia NTPO Box 1604Darwin NT 0801


Bushcare SupportOfficer –GANT

Liza Schenkel Technical support of theBushcare initiative.



Senior BushcareSupport Officer–GANT

Tim West Management and technicalsupport of the Bushcareinitiative.



Northern TerritoryDept of Lands,Planning & Environ– Coastcare

Carolynne Yates Coasts and Clean SeasCoordinator

DIPEPO Box 30Palmerston NT 0831


Northern TerritoryDept of Lands,Planning & Environ– Coastcare

Andy Lauder Coastcare Facilitator DIPEPO Box 30Palmerston NT 0831



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Northern TerritoryDept of Lands,Planning & Environ -Landcare branch

Simon Goodhand Northern Territory NationalLandcare ProgramCoordinator




Denise Batten Landcare Officer - Rural DIPEPO Box 30Palmerston NT 0831



Steve Popple Landcare Officer - Urban DIPEPO Box 30Palmerston NT 0831



Derrick Tranter Liaison on Natural HeritageTrust grant administration



ConservationVolunteers Australia

Ray Medlicott Organise volunteer labour forrestoration and conservationworks

Shop 6,41 Cavenagh StDarwin NT 0801


Northern LandCouncil

Peter Cook Liaison for Aboriginal naturalresource managementissues

PO Box 42921Casuarina NT 0811


Tiwi Land Council Kate Hadden Liaison for Aboriginal naturalresource managementissues


08 89814898

08 89994423

[email protected]


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Indigenous LandManagementFacilitator

Joe Morrison Facilitate integration of theIndigenous community intoNatural Heritage Trustprojects

PWCNTPO Box 496Palmerston NT 0831


Bush Fires Council Brent Williams Fire management, key tovegetation protection in theNorthern Territory

Po Box 37346Winnellie NT 0821


Darwin City Council -Technical ServicesDivision

Dave Perry Local Government liaison forprojects involving councillands

PO Box 84Darwin NT 0801


Palmerston CityCouncil

Tony Scherer Local Government liaison forprojects involving councillands

PO Box 1Palmerston NT 0831


Litchfield ShireCouncil

Sally Jacka Local Government liaison forprojects involving councillands

PO Box 446Humpty Doo NT 0836


Local GovernmentAssociation of theNorthern Territory

Merrilyn Barnes Local Government liaison forprojects involving councillands

GPO Box 4502Darwin NT 0801


Dept PrimaryIndustry & Fisheries

Steve Wingrave Collaborative weedmanagement andsustainable natural resourcemanagement programs.



Coomalie LandcareGroup

Dave Jesser Community consultation C/ Adelaide River POAdelaide River 0846

Duke St RainforestLandcare Group

Sarah Amies Community consultation Unit 1/14 Queen St,Stuart Park 0832

08 89813834


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Dundee BeachProgressAssociation

George Puls Community consultation PO Box 126,Dundee Beach 0840

Environment CentreNorthern Territory

Mark Wakeham Community consultation PO Box 2120,Darwin NT 0801

08 89410387

Larrakia NationAboriginalCorporation

Kelvin Costello Indigenous communityconsultation

PO Box 42043Casuarina NT 0811

08 89482277

Leanyer LandcareGroup

Bill Panton Community consultation 23 Ridgehaven CourtLeanyer NT 0812


LivingstoneLandcare Group

Narelle Williams Community consultation PO Box 493Humpty Doo NT 0836

Ludmilla CreekLandcare Group

Fiona Douglas Community consultation 22 Bremer StreetLudmilla NT 0820


Rapid CreekLandcare Group

Peter O’Hagan Community consultation 6 Dickinson StMillner NT 0810

McMinns LagoonReserve LandcareGroup

Brian McWillians Community consultation Po Box 595Humpty Doo NT 0836

Wangamaty (LowerDaly) LandcareGroup

Murray Knyvett Indigenous communityconsultation

PMB 28Daly River NT 0822


Aboriginal LandcareEducation Program

Lesley Alford Natural Heritage TrustIndigenous projects



Waterwatch MichelleKoulakis

natural resourcemanagement issues




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Infrastructure inventory for Darwin-Daly Tiwi sub-region

KEY S Seed Supply Services;N Nurseries (Plant supply);D Direct Seeding Infrastructure;VMC Vegetation Management Contractors (weed control);TA/C Technical Advice / Consultants;VMTP Vegetation Management Training Providers;F Fire Management

Company Contact Address Phone S N D VMC TA/C VMTP F

Top End Seeds Marjorie King PO Box 86Nightcliff NT 0814

08 89856885 ¸ ¸

Allora Gardens Nursery Estelle Cornell 11 Stuart HwyDarwin NT 0801

08 89844006 ¸

Ironstone Lagoon Nursery Helmut Schimmel GPO Box 25Darwin NT 0801

08 89843186 ¸

Weowna Garden Centre Kay Turner PO Box 640Humpty Doo NT 0836

08 89884622 ¸

Arnhem Nursery Kerry Brynes PO Box 40Humpty Doo NT 0836

08 89881351 ¸

Darwin Plant Wholesalers Daryl South PO Box 39196Winnellie NT 0821

08 89881888 ¸

Gimbells Pty Ltd Dave McWilliams 10 Boulter RdBerrimah 0828

08 89473666 ¸ ¸

Grass Growers Northern Territory Brian Hood Thorak RdBerrimah 0828

08 89471303 ¸


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GANT Environmental Services Dave Cash PO Box 1604Darwin NT 0801

08 89811344 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Wildman Land Management Geoff Baker 98 Jeffries RdHumpty Doo NT 0836

08 89884670 ¸ ¸

Specialist Weed Control Ian Puddefoot PO Box 2524Palmerston NT 0831

08 89833350 ¸

Territory Weed Management Murray Fuller PO Box 39157Winnellie NT 0821

08 89855400 ¸

Northern Territory Pest and WeedControl

Nick Tefianis 414 Stuart HwyWinnellie 0820

08 89471666 ¸

Above Capricorn Technologies Peter Harrison PO Box 736Nightcliff NT 0814

08 89481894 ¸

Connell Wagner Rebelle Rohde 62 Cavanagh StDarwin NT 0801

08 89818022 ¸

GHD Pty Ltd Sally Horsnell Beagle House 38Mitchell StDarwin NT 0801

08 89820100 ¸

EcOz Penny VanOsterzee

GPO Box 381Darwin NT 0801

08 89811100 ¸

EWL Sciences Tony Milnes PO Box 39443Winnellie NT0821

08 89225200 ¸

URS Jo Sedman Arkaba House,The EsplanadeDarwin NT 0801

08 89812195 ¸


21


GANT Bushcare Support centre Liza SchenkelTim West


08 89811344 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Northern Territory University(NTU)

Mick Donnelly PMB 155Katherine NT 0852

08 89738301 ¸

Tiwi Training & Employment Norm Buchan PO Box 37745Winnellie NT 0821

08 89415988 ¸

Stringybark Training Dave Calland PO Box 207Humpty Doo NT 0836

08 89881531 ¸


Northern Territory - Savanna


NATIVE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT: Savanna Sub-region - Northern Territory

23

SAVANNA SUB-REGION

Regional context

The Katherine Region covers approximately 300,000 square kilometres. The southernboundary of Kakadu National Park in the north to the edge of the Barkly Tablelands Region inthe south, and from the Western Australian border in the west to the Gulf of Carpentaria in theeast. The region contains a wealth of natural attractions and is positioned at the crossroadsbetween three areas of outstanding environmental significance; the Gulf, Kimberley Regionand Kakadu National Park.

The major centre in the region is the town of Katherine with a population in excess of 10,000people. Other population centres include the towns of Timber Creek (pop 260), Mataranka(290), Pine Creek (590) and the Aboriginal communities of Barunga (361), Daguragu (710),Lajumanu (1,070), and Ngukurr (1,550 including outstations). In addition a large number ofoutstations or homeland centres exist throughout the region.

The Katherine Region contains a large proportion of the nationally recognised attractions in theNorthern Territory including Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge), Elsey, Gregory, Keep River and theproposed Limmen National Park. An exceptional feature is the high number of river systemswithin the Region. Major rivers include the Roper, Katherine, Daly, Mary, Victoria, and somesmaller rivers including Flora, King, Edith, Fergusson, Waterhouse, Baines and Wickham.

Economy

Primary industryThe estimated gross value of production of the Northern Territories Primary and FishingIndustries is $421 million and the Katherine Region produces $120 million of the gross valueof this primary production. An estimated 500,000 cattle inhabit the region with the live exporttrade of feeder steers to South-East Asia the main pastoral industry.

The Katherine Region has a long history of small scale horticulture producing fruit andvegetable for local interstate and overseas export. The main crops are mangoes, rockmelons,watermelons, pumpkins, capsicums, tomatoes, citrus fruits, beans and lettuce. Production isenhanced by favourable climatic conditions, a low incidence of pest and disease, and theadvantage of seasonal first to interstate market opportunities.

Crop and grain production continues to slowly increase with sesame, sorghum, mung beans,hay and pasture. Crops have been traditionally sown on wet season rainfall but therecontinues to be strong interest in growing crops in the dry season under irrigation.

TourismContinues to be a growth industry with an $80 million turnover in the Katherine Region over2000/01. Strengths include National parks, natural environment, general and cultural tours,recreational fishing. Also to its advantage is the central location for westward and north-southtraffic flow

DefenceRAAF base Tindal is located 15 kilometres from Katherine and houses 700 service personneland along with their families account for 2,000 people. This is a large economic presence inthe town ($2-4 million per year to economy). The developing Bradshaw Station training areaand the Delamere bombing range also cover significant areas of land.

MiningThe 2000/01 value of gold production in the Katherine region was $6.6 million, 2.6 per centof the total gold produced in the Northern Territory. The McArthur River mine in the Borroloolaarea produces lead and zinc, and is set for major expansion and development of onsiteprocessing facilities in the next five years.


24

Remote servicesKatherine is the base for a wide range of services and infrastructure including employment,local government, construction, health care and administrative support to remotecommunities.

Key statistics

Natural Heritage Trust projects in the Katherine Region from 1997/98 to 2001/02:

• 33 Bushcare projects;

• 30 Landcare projects;

• 16 Envirofund projects;

• 8 Rivercare projects;

• 4 Coastcare projects;

• 3 Endangered species projects;

• 1 Farm Forestry project;

• 1 Fisheries Action Plan project; and

• 1 Waterwatch project.

Type of projects assistance requested:

• native plant and grass supply to all regional Natural Heritage Trust and Envirofundprojects;

• storage and appropriate recording of local provenance native plant and grass seed;

• technical advice on protection, rehabilitation and maintenance of remnant vegetation;

• technical advice on revegetation with local native plants and grasses;

• administrative assistance with Natural Heritage Trust and Envirofund applications andreporting;

• delivery of training in native seed collection and propagation of native plants;

• support to Regional Landcare coordinators including office support and storagefacilities;

• technical advice and plant supply to non Natural Heritage Trust funded communitygroups/organisations;

• technical advice, training and support to Farm Forestry program and coordination oflocal Farm Forestry group – arrange training, source plant stock and disseminateinformation; and

• provision of native plant and grass harvesting, planting and transporting equipment.

Training opportunities:

• the Northern Territory University at the Northern Territory Rural College delivercertificate courses in Lands, Parks & Wildlife;

• certificate courses in Horticulture are no longer being delivered by the NorthernTerritory Rural College but may be run by Waikan Training in the near future;

• Greening Australia Northern Territory provide regular training in native plant seedcollection and propagation at the Bushcare nursery for a wide range of communityorganisations;


25

• all the Katherine staff of Greening Australia will have completed the Workplace Trainerand Assessor - Certificate four course by June 2003. This will enable the delivery ofaccredited training modules through the Certificate Onein Horticulture or Lands, Parks& Wildlife courses which are run locally through Northern Territory University andWaikan Training;

• the Victoria River District Conservation Association and Department of Infrastructure,Planning and Environment (Natural Resource Management Division) run grader/soilerosion prevention workshops on demand from landholders; and

• Greening Australia Northern Territory in conjunction with the Katherine Landcare group,Katherine Town Council and Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment(Natural Resource Management Division) are planning a series of workshops on ruralblock management.


Northern Territory Landcare Council and DLPE workshops 2000/01 - KatherineDuring workshops held by the Northern Territory Landcare Council and the Department of LandPlanning and Environment in 2000/01 in Katherine, the following vegetation managementissues where identified under the following headings:

Pastoral / agriculture / environment

• sustainability and management of native pastures;

• distribution of factual information on cotton to the community (production andenvironmental impact);

• weed control enforcement;

• Cane toads (actual loss of food resources);

• mechanism to place value on the environment;

• weed control in billabongs;

• maintain biodiversity once its value has been recognised; and

• revise soil classification and capacity for better agricultural decision making.

Indigenous

• funding sources to see capacity building as an outcome;

• recognition of traditional fire management;

• improve agency capacity to provide support to remote communities; and

• education to communities to increase understanding of the impact of feral animals inwaste.

Supporting resources / other

• need to manage whole catchments (develop baseline data);

• develop regional strategies and links between regions, across borders and betweenpeople;

• capacity building and empowerment and community education (mechanism forenlisting more people;

• fire and associated issues (e.g. siltation of streams, environmental impact of fire isboth positive and negative);


26

• ensure all stakeholders are involved in catchment management and regional plans;

• appropriate funding – matching dollars to the task, more flexible; and

• protection of riparian areas.

Katherine Regional Development Strategy (Nov 02)In addition, the Katherine Regional Development Strategy (Nov 02) has the following naturalresources objectives:

• create a region of excellence in natural resource utilisation and protection;

• foster commitment to management and protection of natural resources; and

• enhance opportunities to interaction with the natural environment.

Possible projects under this strategy include:

• region of excellence strategy;

• complete baseline data collection;

• Katherine River management plan;

• recreation / flood mitigation lake; and

• savannas practical research projects.

Key documents

Katherine sub-region guiding strategies


Victoria River District

Integrated weeds strategy (incomplete) Guidelines, support reference

Integrated catchment management strategy(incomplete)

Direction for strategic natural resourcemanagement activities, funding applicationsetc.

Declaration pest area Strategic feral control which links to riparianprotection.

Roper River Catchment

Draft catchment management plan Direction for strategic funding and naturalresource management activity.

Katherine / Daly Catchment

Sustainable development strategy forJawoyn lands

Guide to issues and priorities, links with othercommunities,

Environmental flow allocation for theDouglas Day region

Resource data linking to natural resourcemanagement issues

Development of a strategic plan – Katherinelandcare group

Local Katherine environment natural resourcemanagement natural resource managementissues, priorities and strategies


27


Conservation planning for the Daly basin Reference to strategic decision making andidentifying potential natural resourcemanagement issues.

Sturt Plateau

Land use development and managementstrategy

Reference, resources

Assessment water resource of the SturtPlateau region

Sustainable fire management for SturtPlateau and Victoria River District

Management guidelines

Management of conservation values in theSturt Plateau

Management guidelines, indicator species,reference


Existing resources and infrastructure

There are three native plants suppliers in the Katherine Township and one at Borroloola. Allproduce limited stocks of local native plants and do not have the capacity to supply all theNatural Heritage Trust and Envirofund projects in the Katherine Region.

The Katherine Bushcare Support nursery in currently the major supplier of native plants forNatural Heritage Trust funded projects throughout the Katherine Region including Landcare,Bushcare, Coastcare, Rivercare and Envirofund projects. Plants are charged at a cost recoveryprice to community and Landcare groups.

The Katherine Bushcare Support centre also provides native trees for non profit communitygroups and aboriginal communities. All trees supplied are grown from local provenance seed.There are no known commercial native revegetation contractors in the Katherine region and noknow commercial direct seeding companies.

Greening Australia Northern Territory is skilling its staff to be able to deliver accredited trainingin Certificate in Horticulture & Lands Parks &Wildlife.


Seedbank 1 Greening Australia Northern Territory Regionalseed store – Katherine (Florabank)

Collectors 1 Greening Australia Northern Territory -Katherine

Native grass harvesting equipment 2 Greening Australia Northern Territory –Katherine


Currently in the Katherine Region there is only one organisation providing seedbank services.Greening Australia Northern Territory provides the only seedbank facility in the region that isadministered to Florabank guidelines. This facility provides native seed processing andstorage facilities to any interested organisation within the Katherine Region, including Parks &Wildlife Commission, aboriginal communities and natural resource management/Landcaregroups.


28

Top End Native Seeds is a commercial seed supply company based in Darwin that currentlyservices the Katherine area (details on seed collection in the Katherine Region is unknown).

Gaps and recommendations

Key vegetation management issues

• sustainable utilisation of native grasses and the development of the native grass industry;

• sustainable utilisation of native plants, the management and harvesting of cycads andnative timber;

• protection of significant vegetation communities and habitat, for rare and endangeredspecies including Gouldian Finch, Purple crown fairy wren and Carpentaria rock rat;

• protection of riparian zones through stock exclusion fencing;

• current and future levels of native timber harvesting for sustainable didgeridoo productionand the effect on hollow dwelling, canopy gleaning and leaf litter dependant fauna;

• protection of significant vegetation communities from hot late dry season fires;

• sandstone heath land communities (Pityrodia spp.) habitat for Leichhardt grass hopper ;

• lancewood and bullwaddy communities are under threat and becoming restricted indistribution. Last remaining stronghold of the spectacled hare wallabies;

• protection of granivorous bird’s habitat from fire and other threats to reduce decline ofdependant birds including partridge pigeon, Star finch and Gouldian finch;

• protection and management of Gulf rainforest patches (habitat of Carpentaria rock rat)from fire and introduced invasive vines;

• protection of island biogeography that may provide isolated refuges for plant and animalspecies. Involvement of traditional owners in protection program;

• protection of wetland areas;

• protection of Blue bush swamp communities on the Barkly Tablelands;

• spread of existing, and the introduction of new, noxious weeds;

• controlled and appropriate land clearing for future agricultural industries;

• environmental pressure from land clearing and development;

• feral animal control to protect habitats;

• lack of baseline natural resource management data; and

• lack of conservation agreement or covenants.

Key gaps in resources and infrastructure

• Cessation of Bushcare Support funding may potentially lead to closure of the regionalnursery and seed store, training facility and loss of technical advice and support onvegetation management and rehabilitation to natural resource management projects inthe Katherine Region;

• Incomplete land unit and biodiversity mapping, and lack of finer scale vegetationmapping in the Katherine Region;

• Need for long term research and monitoring of didgeridoo harvesting sites to measurethe impact on flora and fauna;

• A need to define priority areas for threatened species and communities;


29

• Further data on what are the significant vegetation communities and the threateningprocesses and actions that affect those communities; and

• Research collaboration between sub-regions (e.g. Darwin research on mangroves willhave application along Gulf of Carpentaria coast).

Positives for natural resource management

• declaration of Feral Animal Control Zone in the Victoria River District;

• introduction of Northern Territory Weed Management Act 2001;

• formation of Katherine Regional Weeds Advisory Committee 2001;

• introduction of Northern Territory Land Clearing Regulations 2002;

• Northern Territory Cycad Management Plan;

• Northern Territory Native Timber Harvesting Plan;

• Parks & Wildlife have good knowledge of threatened fauna species and the vegetationcommunities they depend on in the Katherine Region

• Collaborative management of the Carpentaria Rock rat between pastoralists and Parks& Wildlife Northern Territory; and

• the development of a sustainable native grass industry and the subsequentopportunities for pastoral properties and remote Aboriginal communities to generateincome from native grass harvesting. Research into seed production for nativegrasses under cultivation.

Recommendations1. The Katherine Regional Bushcare nursery is the only nursery in the region that

provides local provenance plants and shrubs to the majority of Natural Heritage Trustand Envirofund projects in the Katherine Region. The closure of this facility wouldseverely impact on the ability of community and Landcare groups to source suitablenative plant stocks for revegetation projects.

2. The Katherine Regional Bushcare seed store currently holds, in controlled conditions,native plant and grass seeds for a wide range of community groups and agenciesacross the Katherine Region. The closure of this facility would severely impact on theability of community and Landcare groups to store local provenance seed for use inrevegetation projects.

3. Keep the Katherine Regional Nursery and Seedstore operation functioning.

4. Increased collaboration between research scientists, agencies, and land managers,and the extension of flora and fauna research data, will aid Northern Territorymanagement and research outcomes.

5. Continue research into native grasses in the Katherine Region and support thedevelopment of a sustainable native grass industry in the Katherine and BarklyTablelands (Savannah). Continue to support opportunities for pastoral properties,Landcare groups, remote, Aboriginal communities and other landholders to generateincome from the harvesting or growing of native grasses.

6. Key Greening Australia Northern Territory staff and other facilitators/coordinatorsinvolved in vegetation management need to be kept in the loop to provide the vital linkbetween the community and the development of the Regional natural resourcemanagement Plan. They have extensive networks and are familiar with the issues andchallenges for vegetation management in the region.


30

NATIVE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT:Savanna Sub-region – Northern Territory

31

Key contacts

Vegetation management network for the Savanna sub-region

Organisation Contact Address Phone Email

Rangeland Revegetation Centre - Katherine Russell Shaw PO Box 1544Katherine NT 0851


Aboriginal Landcare Education Program –Katherine

Richard Bauer PO Box 1544Katherine NT 0851


Aboriginal Landcare Education Program Matthew Rosas PO Box 1544Katherine NT 0851


Parks & Wildlife Commission – ScientificResearch

Helen Puckey PO Box 2130Alice Springs NT 0871


Water Advisory Officer - Department ofInfrastructure, Planning and Environment

Sally Kirby PMB 123Katherine NT 0851


Katherine Regional Landcare Coordinator Madonna Mackay PMB123Katherine NT 0851


President -Katherine Landcare group Mark Flynn PO Box 1829Katherine NT

08 89711424

Secretary – Victoria River District ConservationAssociation

Murray Fuller PO Box 506Katherine NT 0851


Coordinator – Roper River Landcare group Sharman Lewis Po Box 2133Katherine NT 0851


Coordinator – Wangamaty Landcare group Murray Kynvett 08 89782000 [email protected]

Coordinator – Gulf Region NRM strategy Susan Gunter PMB 123Katherine NT 0851



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Organisation Contact Address Phone Email

Regional Weeds Officer Alice Beilby PMB 123Katherine NT 0851


Bushfire Council Northern Territory Adrian Creighton PO Box 344Katherine NT 0851


Katherine Town Council Sharon Hillen PO Box 1071Katherine NT 0851


Department of Business, Industry & ResourceDevelopment

Neil McDonald PO Box 1346Katherine NT 0851


Department of Business, Industry & ResourceDevelopment - Rangelands

Robyn Cowley PO Box 1346Katherine NT 0851


Jawoyn Aboriginal Association Greg Lyons PO Box 371Katherine NT 0851


Wadaman Aboriginal Association Mick Peirce Po Box 2145Katherine NT 0851

08 89723874

Indigenous Land Management Facilitator – P&W Joe Morrison 08 89994547 [email protected]

Northern land Council – Land ManagementCoordinator – Katherine

Jim Begley PO Box 396Katherine NT 0851


Northern land Council – Land ManagementCoordinator – Timber Creek

Mick Armstrong PO Box 396Katherine NT 0851


Director Pastoral Land Management & NaturalResources – Katherine

Scott Wauchope PMB 123Katherine NT 0851


Regional Parks Manager John DeKoning PO Box 344Katherine NT 0851


Northern Territory Irrigation grain & fodderproducers Association

Stuart Kenny PO Box 2243Katherine NT 0851



33

Agencies consulted

Officers Agency

Russell Shaw Rangeland Revegetation Centre

Richard Bauer Aboriginal Landcare Education Program

Matthew Rosas Aboriginal Landcare Education Program

Helen Puckey Parks & Wildlife Commission

Madonna Mackay Regional Landcare Coordinator

Sally Walker Regional Water Resources Officer

Gary Hillen Technical Officer - Weeds Branch


34

Inventory of companies & organisations providing infrastructure and services in the region

KEY C/TA Consultant / Technical Advice;PS Plant Supply;DS Direct Seeding;S Seed Collecting and Supply;P Planting Service;W Weed Control and Site Maintenance; andH Equipment Hire.

Contact name Company Address Phone Local Servicefor

outsideregion

C/TA PS DS S P W H

Liz Clark Bush Nursery ¸ ¸

Dave Jaescke Kalano Farm ¸ ¸ ¸

Steve Budarick Kelly Spraying PO Box 1690Katherine NT 0851

89722130 ¸ ¸

Andy Bilskie Murray Pest &Weeds Control

PO Box 1745Katherine NT 0851

89721218 ¸ ¸

Shaun Matchett Regional pest &weed control

4 Cox CrescentKatherine NT 0851

89712255 ¸ ¸

Marg King Top End NativeSeeds

¸ ¸

Murray Fuller Territory WeedManagement

PO Box 39157Winnellie NT 0821

89855400 ¸ ¸ ¸


35

Contact name Company Address Phone Local Servicefor

outsideregion

C/TA PS DS S P W H

Greg Lyons JawoynAboriginalAssociation


89711100 ¸

Russell Shaw Rangelandsrevegetationcentre


89722349 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Michael Crothers GreeningAustralia


89722349 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸


Northern Territory - Arid Zone


NATIVE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT:Arid Sub-region - Northern Territory

37

ARID SUB-REGION

Regional context

The Arid sub-region comprises approximately 750,000 square kilometres and is 65 per cent ofthe Northern Territory landmass. Roughly 25 per cent of the Northern Territory population livein this sub-region, many in remote Aboriginal communities. Eleven IBRA regions are foundwithin this sub-region, two of which are contained totally within it. A variety of Australia’sMajor Vegetation Groups including hummock grasslands, acacia shrublands, salt lakes, acaciaopen woodlands, and mallee woodlands and shrublands are found across the arid sub-region.Annual rainfall varies from 200mm in the south to 600mm in the north and seasonal climatevariability is extreme in the southern part of the sub-region.

Within the region there are many organisations, groups and individuals undertaking vegetationmanagement. The list does not include many organisations and tertiary institutions basedoutside the Northern Territory that service this subregion. Locally based organisations include,but are not limited to:

• Central Land Council Land Management Unit – statutory responsibility for representingand supporting aboriginal people on aboriginal lands;

• Northern Land Council Caring For Country Unit - statutory responsibility forrepresenting and supporting aboriginal people on aboriginal lands;

• Tangentyere Landcare – servicing indigenous communities through Natural HeritageTrust assistance;

• Julalikari Buramana Land Management Unit – servicing indigenous communities in theBarkly region through Natural Heritage Trust assistance;

• Indigenous Ranger Programs supported through CDEP and Land Councils – Yuendumu,Lajamanu and Mutitjulu Indigenous Rangers;

• Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association - pastoral landcare group;

• Centralian Land Management Association – pastoral landcare group;

• urban and peri-urban landcare groups in Alice Springs including Land For Wildlifeproperty owners and Ilparpa Valley Landcare Group;

• Greening Australia Northern Territory;

• Threatened Species Network Northern Territory;

• Northern Territory Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment (DIPE)inclusive of the Parks and Wildlife Commission;

• Department of Business, Industry, Resources and Development (DBIRD);

• various Aboriginal Community Government Councils and Resource Centres throughCDEP programs and Natural Heritage Trust assistance;

• Environment Australia, Uluru-Katatjuta National Park;

• Alice Springs Town Council and Tennant Creek Town Council through Natural HeritageTrust assistance;

• community non-profit organisations such Arid Lands Environment Centre, Olive PinkBotanic Gardens, Australian Plants Society;

• Conservation Volunteers Australia;


38

• tertiary institutions – Centralian College, Institute For Aboriginal Development,Batchelor College, Northern Territory University;

• Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre; and

• CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems.

Current landuse

Outside urban centres, approximately half of the land area in this sub-region is held underAboriginal Land Trust, some of which has been declared or is proposed as IndigenousProtected Areas. Small aboriginal communities with limited resources to manage vast areasare widely dispersed across aboriginal lands. Some limited pastoral, horticultural and tourismactivity occurs on these lands, but most is currently held for its cultural significance.

Pastoral activity dominates the other half of the sub-region with low intensity cattle grazing,largely on natural rangelands, but in some areas on introduced pasture (mainly Buffel Grass).Pastoralists in this sub-region are progressively shifting away from traditional stockmanagement practices to a best practice pasture management approach. As the land in thissub-region is fairly marginal pastoralists have limited resources to invest in activities such asbroad scale weed control.

Alice Springs is the major urban centre in the sub-region, with approx 30,000 people, servicingland management activities in this sub-region and some of northern SA. Tennant Creek is thenext major urban centre, with approx. 3,000 people, servicing the northern Tanami and Barklyregions.

Ti Tree Region, 200 kilometres north of Alice Springs is the centre of horticultural production inthe sub-region. Good groundwater sources and climatic conditions support a variety of cropseg mangoes and grapes. Ti Tree crops mature earlier than those in other regions, fetchingpremium prices for their early entry to southern markets. Alice Springs municipality is alsoearmarked for future horticultural expansion, supported by access to abundant grey water.

Commonwealth land and mining leases also dot the landscape of the arid sub-region.

At the time of writing, an exact figure was unavailable for the area of land under reserve in thearid sub-region, however one per cent is a reasonable estimate.

Key stakeholders

The arid sub-region has a wide variety of active stakeholders involved in vegetationmanagement. A list of these stakeholders is provided at the end of this summary. It isimportant to note that this list does not include all key stakeholders involved in naturalresource management, however, it focuses on those stakeholders that have an emphasis invegetation management.

Key statistics

The information below outlines the Natural Heritage Trust projects funded in the arid subregionin the 2001–2002 funding year. This data has been sourced from the Natural Heritage TrustSecretariat and the Greening Australia Bushcare Support progress reports. A total of 25Natural Heritage Trust projects were undertaken in the sub-region during the 2001–2002funding cycle. Of these Greening Australia Northern Territory has assisted with 12 projects.

The 12 projects were funded out of several different streams of Natural Heritage Trust funding,with some funded from multiple programs. These were:

• Bushcare: the National Vegetation Initiative – 68 per cent;

• National Landcare Program –28 per cent; and

• Waterwatch – four per cent.


39


Natural resource management challenges and issuesOn a regional level, natural resource management issues and community priorities have beenpoorly documented in the Northern Territory. In the arid sub-region, several communityconsultation workshops have taken place to scope and prioritise natural resourcemanagement issues and actions, however, this is yet to develop into regional natural resourcemanagement strategies. With support from the Commonwealth Government through NaturalHeritage Trust Foundation Funding, Northern Territory Government assistance and communitycooperation, in the next year or two such regional plans will be developed. Consultations willoccur across the arid sub-region to ensure that community natural resource managementpriorities are captured and set into an Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan for theNorthern Territory. Therefore, the natural resource management challenges and issuespresented in this current document are simply a compilation of current knowledge and opinionand should not be interpreted as being ratified by the wider community of the arid sub-region.

Vegetation cover in the arid-subregion remains largely intact and free of extensive land clearingpressures, with the exception of localised clearing near urban centres and consequent erosionand dust issues. The quality of native vegetation in the arid zone is, however, being severelycompromised by the more insidious and diffuse pressures of weed invasion (woody weeds andexotic grasses) and altered fire regimes. Local, regional and nationally significant species andvegetation communities are under pressure from these two key threats.

The following list of arid sub-regional natural resource management priority issues (not inpriority order) is a compilation of the outcomes of several community workshops and feedbackfrom local vegetation management groups consulted in the drafting of this summary. It is notintended to be exhaustive.

Vegetation issues:• inappropriate fire regimes – too frequent and intense wildfires;

• weed invasion: aggressive exotic grasses such as certain varieties of Buffel Grass(Cenchrus ciliaris) smothering arid zone drainage lines and riverine areas; and woodyweeds including Parkinsonia, Athel Pine, Rubber Bush;

• feral animals: grazing pressures from rabbits, camel and horses and in some casescattle; and predatory pressure from foxes and cats;

• poor infrastructure placement – poorly aligned roads and tracks, fence lines, and utilitypipes leading to gully erosion and loss of vegetation cover resulting in loss of topsoilthrough wind and water erosion;

• woody thickening - consequences for wildlife habitat requirements and pastoralmanagement;

• wetland degradation – impacts of human, feral and pastoral activity on water quality andfringing vegetation;

• intensive firewood collection;

• low and unreliable rainfall limits vegetation rehabilitation capabilities;

• localised impacts of intensive horticulture (vegetation clearance, salinity etc) in Ti Treeand Alice Springs rural areas;

• localised alteration of natural hydrological regimes in urban areas impacting onvegetation health; and

• impact of global climate change on the rangelands.


40

Community capacity issues:• small and sparse population managing large tracts of land;

• inadequate access to resources for on-ground land management such as traditionalburning;

• cultural inappropriateness of application forms and funding cycles limits capacity ofindigenous people to attract support for natural resource management;

• aboriginal communities need better support to create economic opportunities out of theuse of local natural resources;

• limited capacity for pastoral land managers on marginal lands to tackle broad scalenatural resource management issues such as weed control; and

• reduced government extension support.

Management issues:• gaps in natural resource management knowledge datasets;

• need enhanced opportunities for the integration of indigenous knowledge and westernscience in natural resource management;

• need for a natural resource management structure, inclusive of and endorsed by allstakeholder groups which steers a cooperative and strategic natural resourcemanagement implementation process;

• diverse land uses and tenure and diverse interpretations of healthy ecosystems andlandscape function amongst land managers; and

• absence of widely accepted best practice arid zone vegetation management guidelinesfor key stakeholder groups, particularly the pastoral industry.

Key documents

This list covers the documents used to compile this report

Documents Description

Alice Springs Municipality RemnantVegetation Map, GA and PWCNT

Resource base for vegetation managementplanning

Threatened Species in the Northern Territory –bioregional planning table, ThreatenedSpecies Network 2002

Summary of threatened species in theNorthern Territory by bioregion includingregional threats, regional significance andassessment of community capacity

Proceedings of the Desert Knowledge CRCWorkshop, March 2003

Summary of small group discussion on DK-CRC Theme 1: Natural Resource ManagementFor Better Livelihoods

Northern Territory Soil Erosion and SedimentControl Guidelines (draft) 2000, DLPE

Northern Territory government guidelines forthe reduction of erosion and sediment loss

Regional Approaches for NRM in the NorthernTerritory, Landcare Council Northern Territory,2001

Recommendations for natural resourcemanagement sub-regions in the NorthernTerritory and summary of sub-regional issues

National Land and Water Resources Atlas –Australian Native Vegetation Assessment2001, www.environment.gov.au/atlas

Description of Australia’s major vegetationtypes


41

Documents Description

Presentations and Workshop Proceedings ofthe Community Landcare Seminar 2001

Guide for regional natural resourcemanagement priorities

Presentations & Workshop Proceedings of theCommunity Landcare Seminar 1999

Guide for natural resource managementregional priorities

Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation forAustralia – Version 5.1 Northern Territory,www.ea.gov.au/parks/nrs/ibra

Map and description of IBRA regions in theNorthern Territory

Central Land Council website,www.clc.org.au

Information on the responsibilities of the landcouncil including land management services

Todd & Charles Rivers Fire Management Plan Provides strategic planning info for firemanagement activities in the rivers

Ilparpa Management Plan, Arid LandsEnvironment Centre 2000

Guide for community vegetation managementactions


Consultants, contractors and infrastructure

Service No. Description/Comment

Technical advice – vegetationmanagement, weed control,revegetation, etc

35 There are over 30 organisations in the sub-regionthat can provide technical advice to the communityon a diversity of vegetation management issues atdifferent scales. Six of these are private consultantsthat will charge for their advice. Ten are funded byNatural Heritage Trust to provide technical advice.Northern Territory Government, Central Land Council,Alice Springs Town Council, CSIRO and DesertKnowledge CRC make up another 12 sources of techadvice and the remaining seven are publicly fundedaboriginal groups and community organisations

Indigenous plant supply 10 Three are publicly funded community nurseries withthe capacity to supply provenanced plants.

Two are commercial suppliers with the capacity tosupply provenanced plants.

One is a community organisation sporadicallypropagating natives in a growers group andoccasionally selling to the public.

Three are retail nurseries that supply non-provenanced local natives and non-local natives.

One private supplier operating outside the regionprovides indigenous natives specifically for a bushtucker enterprise project.


42


Indigenous seed collection andsupply

9 There are only two community seedbanks in this sub-region – Tangentyere Seeds in Alice Springs andJulalikari Seedbank in Tennant Creek. Bothseedbanks were established with Natural HeritageTrust support. Funding for these seedbanks has nowfinished and neither has the resources to continuereplenishing seed stocks. Greening AustraliaNorthern Territory through Bushcare Supportundertakes sporadic seed collection, however, thisactivity will also cease after June 30.

Four collectors have been or are currently funded byNatural Heritage Trust to collect and supplyprovenanced seed for community projects.

Two are commercial collectors supplying non-provenanced local native seed.

One is a community organisation selling very smallquantities of local native seed to help cover costs(Australian Plants Society).

One commercial operator collect and suppliesprovenanced native grass seed (GANT).

One private collector does so for a private bushtucker enterprise project.

Fire Management – planningand implementation

12 Includes organisations that provide technical adviceand/or limited operational resources to conduct firemanagement. Four groups depend on NaturalHeritage Trust funding to provide this service.

Revegetation services –planting and direct seeding

9 Four are community organisations funded by NaturalHeritage Trust to provide revegetation and vegetationenhancement services.

One is a commercial operator specialising inrevegetation and direct seeding with local natives.

Two are private landscaping businesses withexperience in landscaping with local natives.

One coordinates volunteer labour for revegetationprojects for a fee (CVA).


43


Weed control, site preparationand site maintenance

17 Weed control in regard to native vegetationmanagement is a highly specialised field requiring anin-depth knowledge of plants and weedingtechniques. Therefore it is important to recognisethe difference between specialised bushcareweeding contractors and large scale spray operators.

Seven are community groups with specialistbushcare weed management expertise, fundedthrough Natural Heritage Trust to provide on-groundservice, technical support, equipment and training tovarious community groups.

One is commercial contractor with specialist nativevegetation management skills.

One is Northern Territory Government Weeds Branch.

Five groups provide commercial weed managementservices , but not specialist vegetation managementskills.

Two are local councils with spray equipment, but nospecialised native veg management skills.

One organisation will coordinate volunteer labour toconduct weed management for a fee (CVA).

Infrastructure for hire or loan -seed collection equipment,weed spraying equipment,augers etc

12 Five organisations provide specialist seed collectionand processing equipment and weed controlequipment. Three of these are able to do so with thesupport of Natural Heritage Trust funding.

The remainder include councils etc that are willing toloan or hire non-specialised equipment such asaugers, brushcutters etc.

Erosion Control gullyrestoration ponding bankconstruction, dust suppression

11 Six of these organisations depend on NaturalHeritage Trust funding to provide this service

Community Training andCapacity Building

29 Two are tertiary organisations providing accreditedland management training.

Interestingly, only one community group (GANT)provides specialised arid zone vegetationmanagement group training (non-accredited). NaturalHeritage Trust funds this training.

One government dept (Bushfires Council) providesbushfire management training

All other organisations provide capacity buildingservices

Vegetation ManagementPlanning

23 This figure also includes project developmentassistance. four are private consultants and eightdepend on Natural Heritage Trust funds to providethis service. Two are indigenous ranger programs.The remainder is made up of agencies, TownCouncils and CSIRO


44


Vegetation Assessment andMonitoring

15 Three are private consultants with extensive aridzone experience. four are groups funded (somepartly) by Natural Heritage Trust. two indigenousranger programs are becoming more involved invegetation surveys and monitoring. The remainderare govt agencies and CSIRO

One organisation monitors selected threatened floraon a voluntary basis (Australian Plants Society)


Outlined below are regional issues associated with providing vegetation management basedon the information collected on the contractors, consultants and project officers. Individualshave highlighted some of these issues during consultation.

Seed collectionAll provenanced based seed collection in the arid sub-region is supported by Natural HeritageTrust funding. Tangentyere Landcare, Julalikari Council and Greening Australia NorthernTerritory have been or are currently funded through Natural Heritage Trust to carry outprovenanced seed collection. The first two organisations mentioned above were fundedthrough the One-Stop-Shop and grants for these projects have now expired. Greening AustraliaNorthern Territory, through the Bushcare Support contract has a limited capacity to collectprovenanced seed and will cease this activity at the end of June when this contract expires.Post June 2003 there will be no provenanced seed collection and supply available to clients inthe arid sub-region unless further funding can be secured.

Non-provenanced local native seed can be purchased from two other commercial seedsuppliers, as well as the Australian Plants Society.

There is a growing demand for native grass seed in this sub-region for pasture rehabilitation,dust and erosion control, revegetation and vegetation enhancement, mine site rehabilitationand infrastructure corridor stabilisation. As native grasses in the arid zone grow mostly inmulti-species stands, collection of a single species is labour intensive. Specialised equipmentsuch as brushcutter collectors, quad bike mounted vacuums and hand held vacuums arerequired to target a single species. Vehicle mounted harvesters have a limited application inthis sub-region.

Provenanced native plant supplyAvailability of locally provenanced plants is steadily improving in this sub-region. Three non-retail nurseries currently supply local natives, but only two, Greening Australia NorthernTerritory Bushcare nursery and the Alice Springs Desert Park Nursery can provide locallyprovenanced stock. This will be reduced to one supplier to which the public has limitedaccess, if Greening Australia Northern Territory is unable to secure ongoing funding for itsBushcare nursery. The Bushcare nursery is supported largely by volunteers. Threecommercial nurseries supply a limited range of non-provenanced local natives and non-localnatives at retail prices.

Technical adviceThere is currently a wide variety of technical advice available in regard to revegetation, erosioncontrol, seed collection, weed control, vegetation management planning and monitoring. Themajority of this advice is provided by non-government community groups dependent on NaturalHeritage Trust support to provide this service. With the massive reductions expected inNatural Heritage Trust funding after June 2003, community access to technical advice onvegetation management will be significantly reduced. Government extension services in thesub-region are limited and have been diminishing over the last few years.


45

Fire managementFire management and weed management are of critical importance to vegetation managementin the arid sub-region. Resources and infrastructure available for fire management is currentlyinadequate. A small population (aboriginal & pastoral) are responsible for fire managementover vast areas of marginal country. To achieve a more appropriate fire frequency andintensity regime that has positive production and biodiversity conservation outcomes,significant resources are required for wages, vehicles and fuel, mapping and monitoringequipment to enable land managers to carry out strategic and coordinated traditional(aboriginal) and contemporary (pastoral) burning. Regionally relevant expertise is currentlyavailable through organisations such as the Bushfires Council, Central Land Council,Threatened Species Network and local vegetation experts, however, to engage the communityin the development of fire management and implementation strategies will require a significantboost to resources in this sub-region.

Vegetation assessment and monitoringWoody thickening and the invasion of critical habitats by exotic grasses, namely buffel grass,has been identified in various forums as two keys priorities in the arid sub-region. To developstrategic management programs to address these issues, some significant knowledge gapsmust first be filled. Currently there is little capacity within the arid sub-region for informationcapture of the scale required. The establishment of the Desert Knowledge CooperativeResearch Centre in 2003 may mobilise some resources for such research, however, this willnot facilitate the full body of work required.

Vegetation monitoring by Northern Territory government, community organisations and industrygroup occurs sporadically and often only when external funds are available. Funding formonitoring must be of a long term nature, well beyond regular funding cycles, allowingfacilitators time to develop relationships with land holders, increase the skill level of landmanagers to conduct monitoring themselves and generate a credible record of vegetationchange over time. Vegetation monitoring to date has taken place largely on pastoral land,however, monitoring of critical habitats on aboriginal land requires urgent attention.Resources are needed to facilitate the capture and integration of indigenous knowledge aboutvegetation health and change.

Community trainingCommunity training is a key component of vegetation management in the arid sub-region,particularly as the techniques applicable across the low-rainfall rangelands must be specificallytailored to the unique set of environmental and social conditions in this region. The welldeveloped, best practice techniques being utilised in higher rainfall coastal regions are oftennot applicable to the arid rangelands. Informal, site-specific training tailored to a particulargroup of landholders is required, but limited mainly to delivery by local organisations with thesupport of Natural Heritage Trust funding. The more formal, accredited vegetationmanagement modules available through the various local tertiary institutions are limited intheir appeal to remote landholders requiring in-situ training that is tailored to their area andparticular vegetation management issues.

Utilisation of natural resourcesUtilisation of natural resources such as bush tucker, bush pharmaceuticals, feral animals (egcamels) and the use of native pasture for ‘clean, green beef’ production are burgeoningindustries. Support for these desert industry initiatives is growing through programs such asthe Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre and corporate sponsorship. Whilstcurrent support for such industries is generally adequate, it is critical that this continue.Success in these areas will create much needed employment and income for remote desertcommunities and in turn, increase their capacity to sustainably manage large areas of land.


46

Gaps and recommendations

The discussion below is only a preliminary assessment of the key impediments to successfulcommunity delivery of on-ground vegetation management outcomes and some initialrecommendations. Due to time and resource restraints it was not possible to undertake a fulland thorough consultation with all stakeholder groups in the arid sub-region. As discussedearlier, vegetation management and broader natural resource management communitypriorities are yet to be clearly identified in this sub-region. A full consultation process will becarried out in the coming year as part of the development of an Integrated ResourceManagement Plan for the Northern Territory.

The anticipated cessation of Natural Heritage Trust funded vegetation management activitiesat 30 June 2003 has been considered in the discussion points below:

• provenanced Seed Supply – absence of provenanced collection and seedbanks in thesub-region post 30 June 2003;

• provenanced Plant Supply – absence of publicly accessible provenanced plant supplyfor community programs with the cessation of Bushcare Support services on 30 June2003;

• community Training – inadequate provision of training opportunities tailored to suitlandholder needs and management issues with the cessation of Bushcare Supportand Natural Heritage Trust funding to other regional organisations on 30 June 2003;

• inadequate resources for traditional burning and fire management on pastoral lands;

• inadequate resources for the integration of indigenous knowledge about firemanagement into mainstream land management;

• resources to facilitate cross-tenure fire management planning and implementation;

• best practice land management guidelines for the rangelands pastoral industrydeveloped with comprehensive input from pastoralists and other stakeholder groups;

• knowledge of weed distributions and the biodiversity hot spots most threatened;

• knowledge of Buffel grass distribution and its impact on biodiversity, specifically itsrole in changing fire frequency and intensity;

• effective landscape scale control methods for aggressive exotic grasses (Buffel andCouch)and woody weeds (Athel Pine and Parkinsonia);

• extension support from government agencies;

• ability for small communities, responsible for huge tracts of land, to retain vegetationmanagement expertise in the current climate of short funding cycles;

• inadequate resources for supporting the economic utilisation of natural resourceswhich will improve community capacity to manage land; and

• poor statutory controls and government extension advice on infrastructure placementeg siting and design of roads, housing, utility corridors, fence lines, stormwater drainsetc, to prevent soil erosion, loss of vegetation, weed incursions and expensive repaircosts.

Recommendations1. secure adequate resources for regional seedbanks and indigenous plant supply to

support community vegetation management in the long term;

2. increase support for community organisations to deliver community training invegetation management that is flexible and responsive to the needs of landmanagers;


47

3. increase resources for cross-tenure fire management planning, traditional burning andthe integration of indigenous perspectives on landscape health and fire regimes intoregional fire management planning and implementation;

4. provide support to pastoral industry groups and pastoral land managers to developbest practice land management guidelines to enhance production and biodiversityconservation outcomes;

5. mobilise resources to map weed distributions in the arid sub-region and the habitatsof high biodiversity value most threatened by weed incursions;

6. adequately resource research into the impact of buffel grass on fuel loads, firefrequency and intensity and vegetation composition;

7. investigate effective methods for landscape scale control of Buffel Grass, CouchGrass, Athel Pine and Parkinsonia;

8. increase opportunities for the sustainable utilisation of natural resources in remotecommunities;

9. encourage government agencies to boost extension support;

10. encourage government agencies to develop, implement and promote appropriateinfrastructure placement guidelines for widespread adoption across all sectors; and

11. ensure funding cycles and programs operate over timeframes that allow effectivedelivery of vegetation management outcomes and retention of local expertise.


48

NATIVE VEGETATION MANAGEMENT:Arid Sub-region – Northern Territory

49

Key contacts and community groups in the Arid Sub-region

Position / Organisation Name Address Phone Email

Regional Bushcare facilitator, DIPE Lynn Day PO Box 1046,Alice Springs 0871

(08) 8951 8282 [email protected]

Aboriginal Areas Protection Agency Andrew Allan PO Box 3656,Alice Springs 0871


Environment Officer, Alice Springs TownCouncil

Ange Vincent PO Box 1071,Alice Springs 0871


Manager, Land Management Unit, CentralLand Council

David Alexander PO Box 3321,Alice Springs 0871


Coordinator, Barkly Landcare andConservation Association

Sally Towne (08) 89624479 [email protected]

Coordinator, Centralian Land ManagementAssociation

Will Dobbie PO Box 2534,Alice Springs 0871


Research & Development Coordinator,Centralian College

Geoff Miers PO Box 795,Alice Springs 0871


Regional Manager, DBIRD Phil Anning PO Box 8760,Alice Springs 0871


Indigenous Land Management Facilitator,DIPE

Pat Laughton PO Box 1046,Alice Springs 0871


Manager, Land Management Unit, JulalikariCouncil

Stuart King PO Box 158,Tennant Creek 0861


Landcare Coordinator, DIPE Ann Grattidge PO Box 1512,Alice Springs 0871



50

Position / Organisation Name Address Phone Email

Regional Weeds Officer, DIPE John Gavin PO Box 8760,Alice Springs 0871


Chair, Desert Knowledge CRC SteeringCommittee

Mark Stafford-Smith PO Box 2111,Alice Springs, 0871


Tangentyere Landcare Wayne Davis PO Box 8070,Alice Springs 0871


Arid Lands Environment Centre Glenn Marshall PO Box 2976,Alice Springs 0871


Threatened Species Network Colleen O'Malley PO Box 2796,Alice Springs 0871


Botanist, Alice Springs Herbarium, DIPE David Albrecht PO Box 1046,Alice Springs


Australian Plants Society Connie Spencer PO Box 945,Alice Springs 0871


Regional Manager, Greening AustraliaNorthern Territory

Michelle Rodrigo PO Box 9081,Alice Springs 0871


Chairman, Ilparpa Valley Landcare Group Mike Hewett PO Box 1034,Alice Springs 0871


Chairman, Lhere Artepe AboriginalCorporation

Brian Stirling PO Box 3321,Alice Springs 0871



51

Inventory of companies and organisations providing infrastructure and services in the region

KEY C/TA Consultant / Technical Advice;PS Plant Supply;S Seed Collecting and Supply;FM Fire Management;RS Revegetation Service;W Weed Control and Site Maintenance;H Equipment Hire;EC Erosion control;CT/CB Community training/Capacity building;VMP Vegetation Management Planning; andVAM Vegetation Assessment & Monitoring.

Contact Name Company Address Phone Local /Based

inregion

Servicingregionfrom

outside

C/TA PS S FM RS W H EC CT/CB

VMP VAM

Bill Low Low EnvironmentalConsultants

PO Box3130, AliceSprings 0871

(08) 8955 5222 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Will Dobbie Centralian LandManagementAssociation


(08) 8953 4230 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

MichelleRodrigo

Greening AustraliaNorthern Territory,Bushcare Support


(08) 8953 2882 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸


52


inregion

Servicingregionfrom

outside


VMP VAM

Col Stanton Land ResourceOfficer, NorthernTerritory DeptInfrastructure,Planning &Environment (DIPE)


(08) 8951 9228 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

AnnGrattidge

Landcare SupportOfficer, DIPE


(08) 8951 9210 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

David Cash Greening AustraliaNorthern Territory,EnvironmentalManagementServices

PO Box1604, Darwin0801

(08) 8981 1344 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Dr Lynn Day BushcareCoordinator, DIPE


(08) 8951 8282 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

DavidAlexander

Central LandCouncil – LandManagement Unit


(08) 8950 5006 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Neill Phillips Bushfire Council PO Box2533, AliceSprings 0871

(08) 8952 3066 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

John Gavin Weeds Branch, DIPE PO Box 8760,Alice Springs0871

(08) 8951 8195 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸


53


inregion

Servicingregionfrom

outside


VMP VAM

Stuart King Julalikari Council,Land ManagementUnit

PO Box 158,TennantCreek 0861

(08) 8962 1933 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

RichardWhite

Karguru Nursery PO Box 156,TennantCreek 0861

(08) 8962 1368 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Jon Belling Desert ParkNursery


(08) 8951 8757 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Jo McKenzie Alice SpringsNursery


(08) 8952 5055 ¸ ¸

Simon Smith Inland Nursery PO Box 2065,Alice Springs0871

(08) 8953 0655 ¸ ¸

Tony Parkin Ilparpa Nursery PO Box 1070,Alice Springs0871

(08) 8952 8725 ¸ ¸

JoeBenshemesh

37 KilgariffCres, AliceSprings 0870 (08) 8953 7138

¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Yuendumu MiningCo.

(08) 8956 4040 ¸ ¸


54


inregion

Servicingregionfrom

outside


VMP VAM

Wayne Davis TangentyereLandcare


(08) 8953 3120 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Dave Albrecht Alice SpringsHerbarium

PO Box 1046,Alice Springs0871

(08) 8951 8791 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Bill Pechey IndigenousLandscapes


0419 833 646 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Murray Pest andWeed Control


(08) 8953 1029 ¸ ¸

RachelPaltridge

¸ ¸ ¸

SteveMcAlpin

¸ ¸ ¸

ConnieSpencer

Australian PlantsSociety


(08) 8952 2154 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸


55


inregion

Servicingregionfrom

outside


VMP VAM

Birds Australia 415RiversdaleRoad,HawthornEast, Vic3123

(03) 9882 2622 ¸ ¸ ¸

Sally Towne Barkly Landcareand ConservationAssociation

(08) 89624479 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Ange Vincent Alice SpringsTown Council


(08) 8950 0518 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

AtholMitchell

Arrernte Council PO Box8828, AliceSprings 0871

(08) 8953 1533 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Jo O’Leary Tennant CreekTown Council

PO Box 821,TennantCreek 0861

(08) 8962 2401 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Dr MarkStafford–Smith

Desert KnowledgeCRC

PO Box2111, AliceSprings, NT0871

(08) 8950 7162 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

TonyBowland

Natural Systems,DIPE


(08) 8951 8225 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸


56


inregion

Servicingregionfrom

outside


VMP VAM

KrishSeewraj

Cool Communities PO Box2796, AliceSpring 0871

(08) 8952 0299 ¸ ¸

GlennMarshall

Arid LandsEnvironment Centre


(08) 8952 2497 ¸ ¸ ¸

Grant Ohlmus Masterpath PO Box 566,Alice Springs0871

(08) 8952 2611 ¸ ¸ ¸

John Taylor RainbowReticulation


(08) 8953 0155 ¸ ¸ ¸

MikeQuarmby

Reedy CreekNursery

PMB 221,ReedyCreek, SA5275

(08) 8768 7220 ¸ ¸ ¸

AndrewSchubert

Tjuwanpa ResourceCentre

PMB 133, viaAlice Springs0872

(08) 8956 7404 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Dr. MarkStafford-Smith

CSIROSustainableEcosystems

PO Box2111, AliceSprings0871

(08) 8950 7100 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸


57


inregion

Servicingregionfrom

outside


VMP VAM

ColleenO’Malley

ThreatenedSpecies Network


(08) 8952 1541 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

AboriginalCommunityCouncils andResource Centres

various ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Tony Cox CloustonsConsultants

¸ ¸ ¸

Institute ForAboriginalDevelopment (IAD)

PO Box2581,AliceSprings 0871

(08) 8952 2280 ¸ ¸

Geoff Miers CentralianCollege/NTU

PO Box 795 (08) 8959 247 ¸ ¸

Kasia Gabrys ConservationVolunteersAustralia


(08) 8953 6411 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

Felicity Forth Waterwatch PO Box 2796,Alice Springs0871

(08) 8951 9552 ¸ ¸ ¸

Rod Horner (08) 8952 8583 ¸ ¸


58


inregion

Servicingregionfrom

outside


VMP VAM

Olive Pink BotanicGarden


(08) 8952 2154 ¸ ¸

YuendumuIndigenous RangerProgram

c/o CLCPO Box 3321,Alice Springs0871

(08) 8950 5008 ¸ ¸ ¸ * ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸

LajamanuIndigenous RangerProgram

c/o CLCPO Box 3321,Alice Springs0871

(08) 8950 5008 ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸