2025-26 projects
SA Aboriginal Ranger Land and Sea Conference
In April 2023, more than 75 representatives from the South Australian Aboriginal land and sea sector – Aboriginal ranger teams, Indigenous Protected Area managers, Aboriginal land and sea management staff, traditional owner groups and other stakeholders – came together for a three-day workshop to consider how the state government can better support traditional custodians caring for Country.
With this new injection of funding, a second gathering is planned for 2026, and more than 150 Aboriginal Rangers from across SA are expected to attend.The key outcome is to build a strong SA Ranger network that:
- Shares working on Country experiences
- Builds skills and knowledge for ranger work
- Involves collaboration and support across Ranger Coordinators
A South Australian Indigenous Ranger Conference is an important and timely opportunity to bring together Aboriginal ranger teams, Traditional Custodians, and key partners to strengthen Indigenous-led land and sea management across the state. While ranger programs have grown in reach and impact over the past decade, there remains a clear need for a dedicated South Australian gathering focussed on Aboriginal leadership, culture and collaboration. This conference will provide a culturally safe and practical space for rangers to share knowledge, discuss challenges, and showcase achievements, with a strong focus on ranger-to-ranger dialogue and peer-led learning.
One of the key outcomes of this event is to deepen the connections between established ranger teams and support the development of emerging groups - particularly those entering the sector through the National Indigenous Australians Agency’s (NIAA) Indigenous Ranger Program (IRP) expansion. With many new teams being established, including through Prescribed Bodies Corporate (PBCs) and community organisations, the conference will provide a critical foundation for mentorship, onboarding and sharing of governance and operational models that work.
Strengthening ranger-to-ranger networks will enhance collective capacity, reduce isolation in remote teams, and foster a sense of shared purpose across regions. The event will also serve to identify common priorities and gaps in areas such as WHS, data management, gender inclusion, and ecological monitoring. By focusing on birds as cultural and ecological connectors across Country, the 2026 gathering aims to elevate Indigenous land and sea management in South Australia and ensure that rangers are supported, recognised, and resourced to lead this work into the future.
Limestone Coast Peat Soils Science and Management project
Peat soils in the lower Limestone Coast region provide important ecosystem services - water storage and carbon sequestration - but are vulnerable to disturbance. The Limestone Coast Landscape Board is seeking information and assistance to inform the management of peat soils in the region. Auricht Projects and the University of Adelaide have recently conducted limited baseline surveys, focused primarily on identification of acid sulphate soils and organic carbon stocks in peats. This project will provide management strategies and a handbook for managing peat erosion and disappearance, acid sulphate soils and salt efflorescence. The project will engage land managers through two field days and help them adopt best practice strategies to minimise impacts of change.
Building the feed bank: Supporting resilient rangelands
This project will support the ongoing work of the SAAL Landscape Board to address the significant threat posed by feral herbivores including pigs, camels, donkeys and horses to biodiversity and pastoral enterprises in the region.
As part of an integrated strategy, this project provides an opportunity for additional landholder engagement and control efforts in areas of the vast SAAL region identified as having feral herbivore (and omnivore) issues. It also allows for an expansion of the Board’s control efforts beyond existing funded areas. This includes work in the North East Pastoral and the Marla Oodnadatta districts of the SAAL region.
Climate-proofed Cockatoos
- Kangaroo Island Landscape Board
- $275,000
Kangaroo Island's Glossy Black-Cockatoo (GBC) population, once teetering on the brink of extinction with just 158 individuals in 1995, experienced a remarkable recovery over a 25-year period thanks to dedicated conservation efforts. The recovery of the GBC then suffered a severe setback due to the devastating 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires. These fires burnt more than half of the species habitat, effectively halting population growth and creating a critical habitat deficit projected to last decades. The surviving population now faces increased dependence on artificial nest boxes and revegetated food sources, and is reliant on conservation management for successful recruitment. While eastern populations on the island remain relatively stable, western areas are experiencing declines, compounded by emerging threats like climate change-induced nest box overheating and heightened competition for nesting sites with non-native competitors. Further wildfires could devastate the population, therefore there is a critical need to strategically plan future revegetation efforts to ensure connectivity between flocks and alternative food sources.
The “Climate-proofed Cockatoos” project aims to enhance the long-term viability of the GBC population on Kangaroo Island through evidence-based actions and novel conservation initiatives.
Climate Resilient Landscapes (includes eight sub-projects)
- $1,600,000
- Distributed across eight boards for the delivery of the following sub-projects:
Water in the Desert
Climate change adaptation, for both long term and short-term dry times, for the Anangu in the desert requires targeted infrastructure to capture opportunistic rain.This will provide emergency refuge for Anangu while also expanding the reach for buffel grass control into the Great Victorian Desert.
Climate ready landscapes; building resilience into drought decision making
This project will ensure land managers are provided with training and tools to take the next steps in their climate-ready journey. This includes understanding on-farm water requirements to balance environmental and production needs, reducing pressure on the regional water resource and improving soil health and groundcover.
Waterwise Farming
The Waterwise Farming project will support farmers to improve on-farm water use, storage options and water security. A farm-based water audit tool will be developed to provide the confidence needed to make informed water investment decisions. Through demonstration sites, the project will investigate a range of water management solutions, including vegetating existing dams, lined catchments, implementing evaporation suppression, monitoring technologies and runoff capture. At field days, these practical solutions will be showcased to help farmers across the Northern and Yorke region adapt to unseasonal weather, make the most of available water and build resilience into their farming businesses. All these activities aim to ensure water security in all years – not just the good ones.
Under pressure - Aerial mustering to remove unmanaged goats
Landowners in target hot spot areas of the SAAL region will be supported with aerial mustering of unmanaged goats, to ensure that landscape scale removal occurs. This will require land managers to collaborate with neighbours in planning and arranging for combined transport and kill space for mustered goats to optimise investment at a broad scale, followed by removal of undersized goats in line with other complementary projects. Many unmanaged goats take refuge in areas inaccessible to ground mustering efforts.
Kangaroo Island Integrated farm planning
By supporting a cohort of primary producers to develop property management plans that enable them to move from knowledge to implementation in a structured and planned manner, the Kangaroo Island Integrated farm planning project will deliver positive NRM outcomes and productivity gains that increase on-farm resilience and future drought preparedness. The project will leverage existing knowledge building activities being delivered by the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board sustainable agriculture program and will provide farmers with the assistance they need to develop property management plans that enable the implementation of priority actions in a practical, structured and financially sound manner. Plans will include strategies to improve soil, water and pasture/crop management, animal health and nutrition, carbon sequestration and emissions reduction and productive shelter belts and native vegetation for fodder.
Addressing small herbivore (rabbit) impacts during dry times
Rabbits have flourished during the dry times without suitable vectors to spread myxomatosis and calicivirus. Farmers seeking to retain vegetation cover are struggling as rabbit populations explode. The government's Drought Package response includes funds to reduce rabbit numbers, with a focus on private land. This project will increase the effectiveness of the rabbit program by extending rabbit control to public land. This will deliver both support for farmers through reducing rabbit numbers and their impacts, and protect environmental assets.
Climate-Ready Livestock: Building Resilient Farming Systems on Eyre Peninsula
Eyre Peninsula livestock producers are facing rapidly emerging challenges from climate change. This project will support producers to make informed management decisions in response to these challenges. Through a program of small group workshops and collaborative guidance from a newly formed producer-led Steering Group, farmers will be supported to develop alternative management strategies that improve their capacity to adapt, diversify, and build long-term resilience.
Optimising Soil Health and Productivity in the Murraylands and Riverland region
Through demonstration sites, workshops and extension events, land managers will gain access to practical knowledge, field-tested soil management strategies and peer learning opportunities that will improve risk management and critical thinking decision-making.
These actions will showcase proven, sustainable solutions to known soil management challenges and enhance the region’s long-term resilience to climate variability better enabling on-farm risk mitigation and recovery during successive dry seasons.