Box Gum Grassy Woodland Habitat on Farm

Almost $300,000 will be spent enhancing Box Gum Grassy Woodlands on farms in the Cowra/Canowindra district over the next six years, as part of the NSW Government’s Save our Species (SoS) Program.

Mid Lachlan Landcare (MLL) was successful in its bid to roll out a program protecting White Box, Yellow Box, Blakely’s Red Gum woodland on local farms. This Woodland is a threatened ecological community of which it is estimated that less than 10% of its pre-European distribution is still intact.

‘The project will provide farmers with access to resources to understand and manage woodland areas. Farm visits will be done and individual property woodland management plans will be completed. These plans will include a range of actions which will be tailored to suit the farmers involved and their production systems.

It is a long term land management project aiming to build the ecological function of Box Gum Woodlands on private farms’ said Will Johnson from MLL.

Project officer Tracee Burke is working day to day on the project. “We will be targeting sites but we are also interested in hearing from farmers who are eager to protect the native woodland habitats on their properties and are hoping to get 58 farms involved over the next 6 years of the project. Participants will develop property plans aimed specifically to maximize the possibility of this woodland surviving for the next 100 years while working in with the production systems of the farms involved.” Participants will then be eligible to apply for either immediate or future management actions funding which may include but are not limited to:

controlling weeds
increasing woodland patch sizes and improving condition
reconnecting fragmented patches
fencing off sites to allow strategic grazing
facilitating landholder networking and capacity building
establishing appropriate grazing regimes to improve groundcover
providing guidelines on species selection, spacing and design
supplementing lost timber with other woody debris.

Funded by the NSW Government via the NSW Environmental Trust, the program is interested in collaboration between Government, the community, non-government organisations and industry.

Sites in the Cowra, Canowinda, Hovells Creek, Mandurama, Gooloogong, Cudal and Cargo areas may be assessed. Each site will have the capacity to improve connectivity across the MLL Region and maximize the chances of Box Gum Grassy Woodlands surviving for the long term.

Contact Mid Lachlan Landcare if you are interested in finding out more about this great project.

Tracee Burke 0417 799 425 or e-mail midlachlanlandcare@gmail.com

May 2020 project update

Biodiversity development key component for environmental projects Landcare NSW article featuring this project June 2020

September 2020 – Woodland Wonders

November 2020 – Second participants workshop held

November 2020 – Monitoring our project sites

January 2021 – Round 2 project sites selected

May 2021 – Site bird Surveys completed

July 2021 – What has been found on some of our potential sites visits this year?

19th August 2021 – Box Gum Woodland Workshop Cowra – booking details.

Oct 2021 – Animals of Box Gum Grassy Woodlands