Celebrations mark centenary of Osborn Reserve

One of the longest-running ecological monitoring projects of its kind, the Koonamore Vegetation Reserve (KVR) provides valuable data on arid land ecosystems. 

The weekend-long event in September brought together many sectors of the community to celebrate the achievements of volunteers, land managers and researchers committed to rangelands research and showcasing their work and findings. It also acknowledged and celebrated the region’s cultural heritage. 

More than 100 participants heard from guest speakers sharing knowledge and learnings, supporting sustainable land management practices and community knowledge of climate resilience and future modelling. Almost one quarter of attendees had not previously visited the rangelands.

Guest speakers at the Saturday celebrations included: 

• Dr Peter Hayman speaking on future climate constraints and land management applications to maintain viable industries and biodiversity protection.
• Dr Diego Garcia Bellido, who reviewed past climatic systems, megafauna, adaptations and how this has formed the pastoral landscape we work in today.
• Nick Rasheed, who discussed pastoral management constraints, and tools he uses to manage the landscape in a highly variable climate. A restoration site was visited on his property, Koonamore Station.
• Eliza Duroux, who presented on the wool and pastoral industry and how grazing management practices on Mt Victor and Plumbago Stations aim to protect Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby populations.

During site visits on the second day of the event, rangeland rehydration demonstration sites on Koonamore Station were inspected.

The Young in Soils and Earth Sciences group made soil site classifications in the Salt Creek flood-out, presenting observations, sharing measurements of soil physics and chemistry and rangeland soil properties – and how this influences management in pastoral country.

At the reserve, participants were given options to join guided walks through Osborn Reserve. These focused on: long term monitoring programs; arid region plants; birds of arid regions; monitoring and understanding the role of small mammals; the importance of chenopod shrublands; and cultural landscape knowledge. 

These were presented by Adnyamathanha man Kristian Coulthard, Dr Jose Facelli, Michael Eyres, David Ladd, Rebecca Greening, Ryan Hayward and Dr Steve Delean.

The event also provided opportunities for networking and to foster relationships between researchers, academics and land managers. So impressed by the outcomes from the reserve, several specialists involved with designing mechanical equipment to support agricultural land management expressed interest in working on soil restoration trials across the pastoral regions.  

Special thanks are extended to the Yunta Progress Association, which provided the catering for the centenary dinner.

The centenary of Koonamore Vegetation Reserve was supported by the Australian Government through funding from the Natural Heritage Trust under the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program, the SA Drought Hub, SA Arid Lands Landscape Board and Adelaide University.