Feral pests targeted in new projects
The significant threat posed by feral herbivores to biodiversity and pastoral enterprises in the region is the focus of two new board projects.
The first is part of a larger $1.6 million Climate Resilience Landscapes project, funded through the State Government’s Landscape Priorities Fund (LPF), that runs across the eight Landscape regions, with region-specific projects supporting climate resilience.
In the SA Arid Lands, this project is Under pressure - Aerial mustering to remove unmanaged goats. It will tackle feral animals through aerial control, to reduce grazing pressure and soil erosion.
The funds will support the aerial mustering of unmanaged goats to support assist land managers in targeted, inaccessible hot spot areas of the region. Land managers will need 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 board projects.
The second project, Building the Feed Bank: Supporting Resilient Rangelands will support the ongoing work of the board to address the significant threat posed by feral herbivores including pigs, camels, donkeys and horses to biodiversity and pastoral enterprises.
It will provide an opportunity for landholder engagement and control efforts in areas of the region identified as having feral herbivore and omnivore issues and will expand the board’s control efforts beyond existing funded areas. This includes work in the North East Pastoral and the Marla Oodnadatta districts.
The Landscape Priorities Fund is sourced from Landscape Levies collected by Green Adelaide in the Adelaide metropolitan area and redistributed to South Australia’s regional landscape boards.
It enables investment in large, landscape-scale projects that address regional and cross-regional priorities that support environmental, economic and agriculture outcomes for all South Australians.
