Relationships first

Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board

Challenge

The Cudlee Creek bushfire swept 23,000 hectares and destroyed 86 houses, directly affecting 5000 residents. Beyond the immediate losses the fire drove carpets of declared plants - broom, gorse and blackberry, closely followed by exploding rabbit numbers. Other impacts included the siltation of critical waterholes and farm dams, the death of ancient paddock trees, and destruction of rare and isolated habitats.

Response

In such a highly populated fire scar, our bushfire recovery program’s success is directly proportional to the quality of relationships we have with our landholders. We used mass text, social media, and our monthly newsletter, Budburst, to engage with our fire-affected community.

Success

Key success to date has included 300 hectares of weed control, rabbit bait provided to 360 landholders, 15km of new watercourse fencing, 59,000 local native plants grown and distributed, design and delivery of 25 capacity building events and field days attended by 500 landholders. We have also undertaken restoration of fire-affected creekline habitats for rare Mount Lofty Ranges birds, the Bassian thrush and crested shrike-tit. Complementing the extension and on-ground work has been the production of 10 how-to videos uploaded to our YouTube channel and webpage.

BudBurst monthly newsletter – sign up via our website www.landscape.sa.gov.au/hf/cud...

You tube: https://www.youtube.com/channe...

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HFLan...

This project is being delivered by the Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board in partnership with the Department of Primary Industries and Regions. This Local Economic Recovery project is jointly funded by the South Australian and Australian Governments under the National Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements