PHOTO: Extensive water ponding was part of the project, showing an increase in groundcover of around 30 per cent.
Since European settlement, most of the Coolibah – Black Box Woodlands of the Darling Riverine Plains and the Brigalow Belt South Bioregions ecological community has been cleared, or degraded by changes to flooding regimes, weed invasion and in some circumstances heavy grazing and drift of herbicides and pesticides.
The part of the Western Plains region which forms part of this delicate ecosystem stretch from Lightning Ridge, south to Coonamble and Nyngan and then funnel west along the river through Bourke and down toward Wilcannia.
Recognised as an endangered ecological community, Local Land Services (LLS) are nearing completion of five years of work to regenerate threatened areas and have completed more than 26,000 hectares of weed treatment and more than 7,000 hectares of soil erosion works.
The focus has been on 50 projects located between Brewarrina and Wilcannia. While on ground works are mostly wound up, still to come are interpretive signage…