2026-27 projects
Through the Landscape Priorities Fund's 2026-27 round of funding, an investment of $3.84 million is contributing to landscape-scale projects across regional South Australia.
These projects will support coordinated pest plant and animal control, post-fire protection of the southern Mount Lofty Ranges, culturally-led approaches to caring for Country and natural resource management student education on Kangaroo Island. In addition, seven landscape boards are tackling individual projects that collectively build nature-based resilience to climate change.
Empowering community-driven environmental stewardship in the Alinytjara Wilurara Landscape Board region
This project aims to strengthen connection to Country, elevate cultural leadership, and empower community‑driven environmental stewardship. The project-funded Community Engagement Officer will strengthen relationships with Traditional Owners and communities to support culturally led approaches to caring for Country. The role centres on building trust, listening, and ensuring environmental initiatives reflect cultural values, community priorities, and local knowledge. The Community Engagement Officer will work closely with Elders, community leaders, and Aboriginal organisations to identify environmental concerns and co‑design activities. Engagement will occur through on‑Country consultations, and community gatherings that create culturally safe spaces for sharing knowledge. Partnerships with ranger programs, schools, councils, and community‑controlled organisations will help ensure that planning and decision making are aligned with community aspirations.
Landscape-scale pest animal control across the Eyre Peninsula
- Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board
- $275,000
This project aims to strengthen native ecosystems, agricultural landscapes and coastal environments on Eyre Peninsula through coordinated pest animal control targeting rabbits, foxes and wild dogs. These species place significant pressure on biodiversity, vegetation regeneration and agricultural productivity, particularly during drought and climate variability. Rabbits compete with livestock for pasture, reducing carrying capacity, while foxes and wild dogs impact livestock through predation. These pressures reduce farm profitability and increase vulnerability to climate stress.
The project will fund Landscape Officers to deliver coordinated pest control programs across the region, building on existing partnerships with landholders and agencies. Activities include manufacture and distribution of 1080 meat baits for foxes and wild dogs, and 1080, pindone and RHDV1 K5 baits for rabbits. Monitoring and spatial data collection will improve understanding of program effectiveness and support adaptive management.
Undertake investigations to improve the Landscape SA Model
This project is seeking to address several recommendations from the Independent Review of the Landscape South Australia Act 2019 published in 2024 regarding potential improvements to the Landscape SA Model.
Deep Creek and Tooperang/Nangkita Fire Recovery Summary 2026
The Deep Creek (1 February 2026) and Tooperang–Nangkita (18 January 2026) bushfires burned more than 5,000 hectares across public and private land in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges, significantly impacting nationally important threatened species, areas of the Swamps of the Fleurieu Peninsula threatened ecological community, and long-term conservation investments.
Immediate intervention is required to protect high value biodiversity assets, assess status and establish post-fire baselines for threatened species, manage weed impacts on native vegetation, manage grazing pressure and reduce local extinctions. Immediate post‑fire risks include extensive habitat loss, rapid weed invasion, increased herbivory, and declining water quality. Early investment is critical to protect some of the state’s most unique biodiversity and avoid greater long-term impacts and costs if the recovery window is missed.
The Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board, working closely with the Department for Environment and Water, National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia, and the South Australian Seed Conservation Centre, is leading this cross‑tenure recovery effort and delivering a landholder small grants program to support priority on-ground works.
Management of fifteen priority weeds on Kangaroo Island 2026-27
- Kangaroo Island Landscape Board
- $110,000
This funding will work towards implementing management actions for fifteen priority weeds on Kangaroo Island as identified in the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board's annual regional weed risk assessments.
The project aims to implement spatial detection and strategic cost-effective control measures for regional priority weeds and outlier and emerging weed infestations.
The anticipated key outcome will be the surveillance, mapping and control of the landscape board's 15 priority weeds on private and public land.
Building landscape connections: continuing the Kangaroo Island Natural Resource Management Education Program
- Kangaroo Island Landscape Board
- $165,000
This project will continue the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board's Natural Resource Management (NRM) Education program, which was developed in partnership with the local school Kangaroo Island Community Education (KICE), and has been running since May 2024. During this time the program has delivered amazing outcomes for the Board and students at KICE.
Over the next 18 months the program will work across the three school campuses and:
- produce curriculum-based NRM education plans, in conjunction with KICE, aimed at specific year levels
- deliver an annual Young Environmental Leaders program targeted at Year 5 students
- deliver an intercampus school ‘twitchathon’ (birdwatching)
- plan and deliver an event for National Science Week
- continue to produce a range of KI-specific learning resources promoting the work of the Board.
This program was singled out by the community as a particular highlight of the Board's work during consultation on the draft landscape plan.
Rangelands Resilience 2
- SA Arid Lands Landscape Board
- $275,000
On-ground control of pest plants and animals in the South Australian rangelands needs a consistent, integrated and dedicated focus. Drought breaking floods are resulting in pest populations flourishing, impacting economic and environmental gains. Control efforts require a coordinated response to proactively address ever-changing needs across the vast SA Arid Lands landscape to maximise efforts.
This project involves collaboration with land managers as well as industry and government to tackle invasive herbivores, pigs and declared weeds. This will ensure streamlined investment, landscape scale impact and shared responsibility to maintain productive, biodiverse and resilient rangelands. The coordinated effort will deliver aerial control, baiting regimes, and weed management.
The next seven projects are delivered by individual landscape boards under the theme: Building nature-based resilience to climate change:
Building nature-based resilience to climate change
Building Alinytjara Wilurara’s understanding of priority species and their resilience to climate change
The project aims to monitor and implement management strategies for priority species to strengthen our understanding of population and distribution dynamics as well as their adaptive capacity to climate change.
The project will focus on native fauna and flora species within the Alinytjara Wilurara Landscape Board region that may be impacted by ongoing environmental stressors, including prolonged dry conditions, grazing pressure from introduced herbivore, and competition from invasive weed species.
The project also seeks to develop a good plant and animals' strategy to identify important plants and animals from both an ecological and cultural perspective and to identify priority species that may be significantly impacted by climate change.
Building Climate Resilience though Ostrea angasi Reef Recovery in Coffin Bay
- Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board
- $308,000
Native flat oyster (Ostrea angasi) reefs once formed extensive ecological structures across southern Australia but are now functionally extinct across much of their former range. This project aims to improve the climate resilience of the Coffin Bay marine ecosystem by developing and implementing a management plan for remnant Ostrea angasi reefs.
Year one will develop a science-based management plan that identifies priority protection, restoration and catchment management actions to support reef recovery and long-term resilience. The plan will incorporate existing research, threatened ecological community advice and local knowledge, and assess catchment pressures affecting reef condition.
Years two and three will implement priority actions identified in the plan, including targeted reef restoration, habitat protection, and catchment-scale measures to improve water quality and reduce sediment and nutrient inputs.
The project will strengthen ecosystem resilience, enhance fisheries productivity, improve water quality and support biodiversity in one of South Australia’s most important coastal ecosystems.
Kangaroo Island Catchment to Coast – building healthy landscapes and agroecological resilience
- Kangaroo Island Landscape Board
- $300,000
Kangaroo Island landholders will be supported to improve the health and water quality of significant waterways through targeted revegetation, vegetation fencing and stock crossings. This private land stewardship program will provide ecological and economic co-benefits by increasing vegetation coverage along waterways and reducing disturbance to streams, thereby reducing sediment and nutrient run-off into the waters around Kangaroo Island, and as a result building coastal resilience.
Limestone Coast Water Use Efficiency
- Limestone Coast Landscape Board
- $308,000
This project will investigate the potential for water use efficiency in industries across the Lower Limestone Coast region. Each stage of the project will include industry engagement to share knowledge and build resilience. The project will have regard for expected climate change scenarios and impacts of prolonged dry times, maintaining productivity and conserving the environment.
The project will begin with an analysis of water use efficiency practices within primary production industries across the region, including undertaking necessary work to fill data gaps. Options to achieve water use efficiency across main primary production industries will then be explored, (for example, viticulture, dairy, forestry, horticulture and irrigated livestock production). Opportunities will include on-farm irrigation infrastructure efficiency, on-farm assessments such as soil and vegetation conservation, and innovation. The final application stage will test key water use efficiency opportunities.
Building Nature-Based Resilience to Climate Change in the Murraylands and Riverland
The project will deliver nature-based resilience actions identified in the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board's Climate Change Strategy. Key project components include:
- Increasing landscape resilience, enhancing on-farm biodiversity and restoring habitat connectivity within the priority grassy woodlands of the ReBird the Ranges project area through active revegetation, the protection of regeneration and the restoration of paddock trees.
- Addressing key climate change-related risks in the mallee including the improved risk management, agronomy and control options for erosion-prone soils, and trialling the restoration of paddock trees.
- Promoting climate resilience in regional urban areas through innovative, biodiverse, low water use, native plantings.
- Upgrading weather data systems in the Riverland to enable the community and industries to access real-time weather data to support decision making to manage climate related risks into the future.
A range of key partners will be involved in delivering the project including, landholders, industry groups, First Nations, non-government organisations, and local councils.
Reviving the Southern Flinders
Funding will support a coordinated, landscape-scale approach to improve landscape health and build climate resilience around Mount Remarkable and Southern Flinders National Parks.
Key actions include high-priority buffel grass control and coordinated management of feral herbivores — particularly goats and deer — across National Parks and the surrounding landscape.
The project will also enhance on-farm biodiversity and restore habitat connectivity at priority sites through revegetation, restoration of watercourses and weed control. A strong collaborative approach will be implemented in partnership with SA Arid Lands Landscape Board, the Department for Environment and Water, Department of Infrastructure and Transport, Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA and the Australian Rail Track Corporation.
Monitoring springs in the Flinders Ranges
- SA Arid Lands Landscape Board
- $300,000
Springs in the iconic Flinders Ranges are vital the region’s prosperity. This project involves baseline monitoring to help understand the health of springs in region. While anecdotal evidence suggests springs are under increasing external and landscape pressures, this project will incorporate fauna and flora assessments, monitoring of water quality and flow, and conversations with First Nations and other stakeholders to determine their current health and condition.
Springs in the area have varying permanency, hydrology and geomorphology and many have Aboriginal cultural heritage values. They also provide refugia for aquatic biodiversity, water sources for native animals and stock, and are valuable for tourism.
Many springs are threatened by climate change and growing seasonal variability, groundwater extraction and pest plants and animals, with the collected data used to inform future and ongoing management options.
