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6 December 2013

Planning trials at Gerard to determine how floodplain trees can be managed into the future.

   
 

In this issue

Award for Aboriginal Leadership
Raukkan monitors threatened orchids
Partnerships protect Lake Bonney
Berri ALOC team
Protecting turtles
Murray Bridge ALOC
Biodiversity at Gerard
Youth focus on Indigenous Culture
Ngarrindjeri Murrundi Recovery
Monarto ALOC team graduates
Riverland wetland tours
Groundwater Scholarship for Indigenous students
 
Saving River Murray floodplain trees

A new project in the Riverland, involving the Kungun Aboriginal Learning on Country (ALOC) team and the Gerard NRM team, is investigating how trees such as black box and river red gum can be maintained in the absence of the large, regular floods that they rely on for their long-term survival.

A range of options such as pumping water into disconnected wetlands and watering young and mature trees are being trialled as part of the project.

The initial trial, which is investigating the response of mature black box trees to different levels of watering has been established on the Gerard floodplain. The trial involves 90 individual trees and will compare two watering regimes with unwatered control trees.

In addition to the trials the teams will also undertake feral animal and weed control at key wetland and floodplain sites along the River.

The project is being delivered by Natural Resources SAMDB in partnership with the Aboriginal Lands Trust, the Kungun ALOC team, the Gerard NRM team and the Riverland Working on Country (WOC) Rangers. The project is supported through funding from the Australian Government.

   
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Award for Aboriginal Leadership

Natural Resources SAMDB Aboriginal Partnerships Project Officer Chris Koolmatrie has received the Premier’s NRM Award for Aboriginal Leadership for his work with the Aboriginal community across the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin region.

The award recognised Chris’ work in developing and delivering a range of programs to employ and train Aboriginal people in NRM and his development of strong partnerships between the Aboriginal community and a range of government and non-government organisations and projects.

Chris dedicated the award to other Aboriginal leaders, past and present.

   
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Monitoring nationally threatened orchid populations on the Narrung Peninsula.

Raukkan monitors threatened orchids

In late September this year the Raukkan Working on Country (WOC) and Aboriginal Learning on Country (ALOC) teams continued their monitoring program for the nationally vulnerable sandhill greenhood orchid (Pterostylis arenicola) on Narrung Peninsula.  The crews have been monitoring 4 sub-populations of the orchid since 2009, following on from 3 years of initial monitoring by the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources.

Since 2009 several additional populations of the sandhill greenhood orchid have been located, as well as previously unknown occurrences of 2 other EPBC-listed orchid species, the metallic sun-orchid (Thelymitra epipactoides) and the coloured spider orchid (Caladenia colorata).

The monitoring has shown that 2 of the larger sub-populations appear to be stable or increasing in number with over 200 plants in one population, up from only 27 plants in 2004.  The number of plants in several smaller populations fluctuate from year to year but appear to be stable.

Management actions arising from the monitoring work this year include rabbit control, brushcutting of the weedy perennial veldt grass at one site to open up the habitat, and the control of African daisy and African boxthorn to protect the largest colony.

The project is a partnership between Ngopamuldi Aboriginal Corporation, Natural Resources SAMDB and Greening Australia SA, and is supported through funding from the Australian Government.


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Discussing rabbit control at a workshop of the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation and Natural Resources SAMDB.

Partnerships protect Lake Bonney

Natural Resources SAMDB has been working closely with the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation, other members of the First Peoples of the River Murray and Mallee, and SA Native Title Services, on a project to control rabbits and protect Aboriginal heritage around Lake Bonney in the Riverland.

The project was initiated by a notification under the River Murray Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) which has provided a pathway for traditional owners to engage with Natural Resources SAMDB to pursue opportunities for the protection of their country and their cultural heritage.

Rabbit warrens have been mapped (680 were found!) and an Aboriginal heritage survey of the area has been undertaken. A rabbit control plan will now be developed to determine how to control the rabbits while avoiding damaging or disturbing Aboriginal heritage.

The project will also look for opportunites to maximise employment and training opportunities for the local Aboriginal community. The project is supported by funding from the Australian Government and the SA Murray-Darling Basin NRM Board Levy.


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Berri ALOC team

The Natural Resources SAMDB Riverland Aboriginal Learning on Country (ALOC) team, based in Berri, was established in early 2011. Since that time they have played a key role in protecting the environment and managing natural and cultural resources across the Riverland and Rangelands.

This year the team will again be busy working on a range of activities such as protecting threatened species, controlling pest plants and animals and revegetation at a number of locations, including the Pike Floodplain, Katarapko and Chowilla.

The project is a partnerhship between Natural Resources SAMDB, the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation, the Riverine Recovery Project and the Living Murray Program, and is supported with funding from the Australian Government, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and the SA Murray-Darling Basin NRM Board Levy.

   
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Learning how to identify and record turtle nests at a recent training day at Lake Bonney.

Protecting turtles

Turtles in the River Murray are under threat from foxes and changes to the natural wetting and drying cycle in wetlands. Although not a lot is known about these species, it is thought that their numbers have declined dramatically.

Natural Resources SAMDB has been working closely with Professor Mike Thompson from the University of Sydney, Ricky-John Spencer from the University of Western Sydney, and the River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC) to establish a community turtle monitoring program along the River Murray in SA.

Two days of training in setting up and conducting turtle surveys were recently conducted at Lake Bonney in the Riverland. A range of groups participated in the training including RMMAC, the First Peoples of the River Murray and Mallee, the Kungun Aboriginal Learning on Country team, the Gerard NRM team, the Riverland Working on Country team, the Mannum Aboriginal Community Association Incorporated, and the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority. Natural Resources SAMDB staff and Local Action Planning (LAP) officers from along the river also participated in the training and will work with a range of community groups to extend the program throughout the region.

The project is supported through funding from the Australian Government.


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Murray Bridge ALOC

A new Aboriginal Learning on Country (ALOC) project has been set-up to protect and restore the local environment around Murray Bridge and provide valuable NRM training and employment opportunities for the local community.

The project will include a range of activities including working in local conservation parks, managing council reserves in and around the town, revegetating degraded land and assisting in a major project to protect nationally threatened Fleurieu Swamps and southern emu-wrens. 

The ALOC project is a partnership between the Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority, Ngarrindjeri Ruwe Contracting, Natural Resources SAMDB, the Rural City of Murray Bridge, the Goolwa to Wellington LAP, and the Eastern Hills and Murray Plains Catchment Group. The project is supported through funding from the Australian Government.

   
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Pitfall trapping for small mammals and reptiles as part of the Gerard biodiversity surveys.

Biodiversity at Gerard

Regent parrots, pygmy possums, bush stone-curlews and malleefowl are among the species targeted by a new program of biodiversity surveys at Gerard in the Riverland.

The surveys are aiming to learn more about the biodiversity value of Gerard, build the capacity of the Riverland Aboriginal community and increase Aboriginal participation in threatened species management.

The program is a partnership between the Gerard NRM team, Kungun Aboriginal Learning on Country team, the Aboriginal Lands Trust, Tafe SA Aboriginal Access Centre and Natural Resources SAMDB. The project is supported through funding from the Australian Government.


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Youth focus on Indigenous Culture

The River Murray Youth Council based in the Upper Murray recently held their final forum for 2013 at Calperum Station near Renmark.

The focus of the forum was 'Indigenous culture and NRM' and the students learned about a range of topics including bush tucker, the many cultural values and uses of river red gums, and how Aboriginal people traditionally managed natural resources.

The River Murray Youth Councils are coordinated by the Natural Resources SAMDB and are supported with funding from the SA Murray-Darling Basin NRM Board Levy.

   
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Joint Ngarrindjeri and DEWNR tour of the Swan Reach Wetland Complex.

Ngarrindjeri Murrundi Recovery

The Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority (NRA) and the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) have collaborated to support the participation of Ngarrindjeri in the Riverine Recovery Project (RRP). The Ngarrindjeri have named their engagement in RRP as Murrundi Recovery, in reference to their language name for the River Murray.

Murrundi Recovery is being coordinated by the NRA on behalf of their member organisation, the Mannum Aboriginal Community Association Incorporated (MACAI). The NRA employs MACAI traditional custodians of the mid-Murray region where the RRP is being rolled out. Senior Custodian, Isobelle Campbell, leads cultural heritage assessments and surveys of proposed RRP activities along Murrundi.

The Ngarrindjeri are participating in reviewing RRP wetland management plans, to ensure cultural heritage is protected, but also to ensure there is awareness of Ngarrindjeri values, rights and interests. On country heritage assessment processes also support Ngarrindjeri informing the design and location of proposed wetland infrastructure.

Through Murrundi Recovery, Ngarrindjeri are also preparing a management plan for a floodplain just north of Swan Reach, owned by the Sugar Shack Aboriginal Corporation.  The planning seeks to reinstate a natural inundation pattern for the floodplain wetlands, and improve flow through Yatco Creek that extends from one end of the floodplain to the other. The plan intends to support continued Ngarrindjeri’s wise use and sustainable development of this part of Murrundi. 

DEWNR has out posted a wetland ecologist to the NRA to support the Ngarrindjeri roll out of Murrundi Recovery. RRP is part of the Australian Government’s Murray Futures Program, Water for Good initiative.


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The Monarto ALOC team at their graduation ceremony.

Monarto ALOC team graduates

Members of the Monarto Zoo Aboriginal Learning on Country (ALOC) team recently graduated from Certificate III and IV in Conservation and Land Management. The team, which continues to work at the zoo and on a range of other local NRM projects, have now begun studying and training for their Certificate IV and Diploma-level qualifications.

The Monarto ALOC program is a partnerhship between Zoos SA, Natural Resources SAMDB, the Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology, Workskil, MADEC and Santos. The project is supported through funding from the Australian Government.


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Discussing a wetland flow control structure on one of the wetland tours.

Riverland wetland tours

The River Murray Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (RMMAC) and other representatives of the First Peoples of the River Murray and Mallee Region have been working closely with the Department of Water, Environment and Natural Resources (DEWNR), to ensure that Aboriginal perspectives are represented in the management of wetlands along the River Murray.

The Riverine Recovery Project (RRP) and The Living Murray (TLM) program, fund wetland tours to get First Peoples yarnin’ on country. Community participation has grown steadily over the past 4 months, testament to the will of First Peoples to engage in wetland management.

Yarnin’ on Country is an ideal way for DEWNR representatives to get a clear impression of the past and current Aboriginal use of wetlands and how First Peoples may reconnect to these important parts of country in a meaningful way.


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Groundwater Scholarship for Indigenous students

Indigenous students who want to care for their country and community are encouraged to apply for a valuable training scholarship to boost research into South Australia’s groundwater resources.

The scholarship is run as a partnership between the South Australian Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources along with the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training, and Flinders University. It offers the chance to study a groundwater qualification and receive paid work experience, mentorship and graduate employment.

Potentially worth around $90,000 over three years, this scholarship offers a unique opportunity for Indigenous people to fast track a career in earth science and groundwater research. For more information or to apply, visit http://www.environment.sa.gov.au/get-involved/Working_at_DEWNR/scholarships

   
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For more information

For more information on the stories in this update, or to discuss submitting stories for future issues, please contact Chris Koolmatrie, Aboriginal Partnerships Project Officer, Natural Resources South Australian Murray-Darling Basin, on (08) 8580 1800.

 
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