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Barkly Landcare & Conservation Association are proud to be winners of the 2009 Northern Territory Landcare Community Group Award |
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The Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association are set to represent the Northern Territory in the National Landcare Awards in Sydney next year after being announced the winners in the 2009 Northern Territory Landcare Awards held in Darwin.
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Our group and its members were recognised in the Landcare Community Group category for their efforts in tackling Parkinsonia (a weed of national significance) in the Upper Georgina Catchment. The award is made every two years to an outstanding community group that has adopted sound land management practices and is working towards protecting an area on behalf of the community. Looking back over our efforts in surveying and treating around 2500km of waterway and floodout in one season we were really proud and wanted to share our achievements with the broader landcare community. The region was in the grips of drought leading into the project and the task in front of us seemed more than ambitious. But the pastoralists involved in the project put their all in and the results speak for themselves. The project is just the first step in what will be a long-term management program for pastoralists in the 35,000 km2 Upper Georgina Catchment on the NT border with Queensland. In the initial stages of the project our group took to the air and mapped the full length of waterways, floodouts and gullies by helicopter. The results of the survey were a key component in our success. The data collected allowed us to streamline our treatment program and significantly improved the efficiency of our on-ground control work. Using this data we hit the ground on quad bikes and on foot to locate and individually treat around 10,000 plants. While our efforts have had a significant impact on the parkinsonia population in the catchment, the fight is not yet over. As a part of the project pastoralists have developed long-term weed management plans that will support them in gaining the upper hand through a control program that is expected to run for at least the next ten years. This will ensure both the protection of private and government investment, and sustainable land management into the future. This project has been just one example of the commitment of pastoralists in our region to sustainable land management. They could see the potential threat this weed posed and were keen to pitch in to ensure that their impact on the landscape would be a positive one for the future. Having achieved such encouraging success at the catchment level, the Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association are now looking to the future where we aim to tackle these and other environmental threats on a larger, regional scale. |
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About Barkly Landcare & Conservation Association |
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The Barkly Landcare and Conservation Association Inc (BLCA), formed in 1995 is a community organisation dedicated to improving land and environmental management practices on the Barkly Tablelands, Northern Territory. The tablelands covers an area of 240,000km2 running north-east from Tennant Creek to the Northern Territory – Queensland border and with approximately 57 pastoral leases averaging 5000km2, includes some of the most significant grazing land in the Northern Territory. |
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Since it was established, the BLCA has undertaken riparian restoration projects, supported Parkinsonia aculeata dieback research, delivered best management practices in erosion control and distributed findings on the collaborative integration of biodiversity and fire management in the Barkly Rangelands. The BLCA has been recognised within the Northern Territory Landcare community for its comprehensive approach to NRM through the following awards: |
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