Regenerating catchments brings new life to Mid North farmscapes
Local landholders are rolling up their sleeves to restore waterways and habitats across the Mid North, with a major catchment regeneration project helping one farmer fast-track a decade of environmental improvements on their property.
Led by the Northern and Yorke Landscape Board (NYLB), 15 landholders were involved in the Regenerating Catchments in the Mid North Farmscape project.
Landscape Officer Jamie Pook said during the three-year project, almost 8 kilometres of fencing had been erected to protect local watercourses.
There was also more than 90 hectares of watercourse and adjacent land protected by fencing and enhanced through weed control and revegetation.
“The goal of the project was to improve the condition – the overall habitat and aquatic environment - of the main watercourses in the Mid North, including the Wakefield River, Light River, Gawler River, and North and South Para Rivers,” he said.
“All the landholders involved were very motivated to protect and restore their part of the catchment.
“By all working together, we have been able to reinvigorate those areas.”
Among those involved in the catchment regeneration project were Craig and Nat Tanti, who are both passionate about improving the waterways and environment on their South Para River property.
Craig said being involved in the project had given the family a major boost in improving their property to ensure it is in good condition for their young children to enjoy in the future.
“This Northern and Yorke Landscape Board project has accelerated our plans by probably a decade,” Craig said.
“It has enabled us to get some assistance with fencing so we could de-stock 24-hectares of the 65ha property to start regeneration along the river, and make headway in controlling olives and other woody weeds along the watercourse.
“We’ve also planted about 500 trees over the last two years through this project.
“We couldn’t have got here without the help of the Landscape Board assisting us, and we’re very grateful for their knowledge and funding to help us secure the waterways, not just for now, but for our kids and the future.”
Craig said there are already good signs that the work the family is doing to improve the environment is paying off.
“There definitely seems to be more native grasses coming back, and we were very keen to create a native animal corridor which seems to be working,” he said.
“We’re seeing quite a few kangaroos coming through out of the Para Conservation Park, and different birds including black cockatoos which we haven’t seen before, and the water this year is flowing well and is very clear.”
Other initiatives that formed part of the regeneration project across the Mid North included community planting days and workshops, more than 55ha of revegetation (including more than 14,000 seedlings planted and 12km of direct seeding), 36.5ha of woody weed control and eight off-stream livestock water points installed.
Improving the health of the region’s river catchments remains a priority for NYLB. The organisation is focussed on sourcing additional funding to support landholders in delivering this important work.
The Regenerating Catchments in the Mid North Farmscape project was funded through the Landscape Priorities Fund, with landscape levies collected by Green Adelaide in the Adelaide metropolitan area.
