Springs management the focus of new plan

Plans for the management of Great Artesian Springs (kutha ngarrawa) on Arabana Country on Finniss Springs Station were discussed during a visit to the property in October.

Management options including fencing, monitoring, burning of Phragmites and Typha and control of herbivore access are being considered by Arabana Aboriginal Corporation, Friends of Mound Springs and SA Arid Lands Landscape Board Water staff as a result of the visit.

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Group Chairs meet with the SAAL board

Chairs of the board’s seven Landscape Groups met in Port Augusta in October to undertake cross-district planning and look at identified priority issues.

As part of the annual meeting, Group Chairs spent a morning with the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board members where they discussed the group’s priority issues that align with the board’s five main priorities.  The Chairs group also agreed to sponsor up to seven people from the region to attend the International Rangelands Conference in Adelaide in June 2025.

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Guide to stop a garden escapee invasion

A new Plant Local guide has been produced to encourage planting native species and preventing the spread of exotic plants in and around the Gawler Ranges district, and is relevant across the SAAL region.

Compiled by author and botanist Nadine Brown for the Gawler Ranges Landscape Group, the guide highlights introduced plants that have invaded areas of the region or has the potential to do so by ‘escaping’ from home and station gardens. It provides alternative plants to use that are native to South Australia’s drier regions and are likely to thrive in the local environment.

Applying a mindful consideration to planting will entice more native insects, birds and animals into the area and offers environmental benefits. The plants also have a better survival rate, given they have adapted to the region’s drier, hotter climate.

Speak to your region’s Community Landscape Officer to obtain a copy of the booklet or pick up a copy at an event in your district soon.

Propagation workshops prove popular

Native plants are perfect for home gardens as they thrive in their local climate and include trees, large shrubs, annuals and groundcovers.

The benefit of planting natives and tips for propagating them were shared at plant propagation workshops in November. 

Very popular, the workshops were held at Hawker and Iron Knob, with plans to run additional events in 2025.

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Get involved in the Plains-wanderer search

A new Citizen Science project is calling on you to help us gather information on a critically endangered bird.

The SA Arid Lands Landscape Board has joined with Bush Heritage Australia and Birdlife Australia in a bid to find out more about the Plains-wanderer (Pedionomus torquatus), a small, ground-dwelling bird with less than 2500 known individuals remaining in the wild.

The information collected will go towards updating the species distribution in South Australia and will enable informed conservation management plans to be developed. These will protect the long-term survival of the species and may lead to future research.

Find out how you can be involved

Carbon in the Pastoral zone

A national program to support land managers to make informed decisions to reduce emissions across their business has supported the delivery of Carbon in the Pastoral Zone in Quorn, Cradock, and Olary.

Delivered by the board’s Carbon Outreach Officer, the aim of the training is to share relevant carbon management content to the SAAL community that is specific to pastoral land management. The training and information sessions will continue to be offered across the region in 2025.

Find out more

Network members take a virtual desert tour

A virtual helicopter ride across the Great Victoria Desert was a feature of the December Aboriginal Engagement Network (AEN) meeting.

At their last meeting for the year, AEN members shared successes for the year, and discussed several items including opportunities to formalise the Ranger network in the region, and cultural approaches to managing overabundant kangaroos.

They also experienced flying across the Great Victoria Desert through Virtual Reality (VR) headsets and discussed the application of using VR technology to film on Country to share back with elders who may no longer be able to travel or climb to inaccessible places.  VR was also seen as a really useful tool to provide training and for capturing stories to share with others.

Katie Perry and Warren Milera from Nature Foundation’s Kids On Country™ program updated the members on the work they are doing on Hiltaba and Witchelina, providing unique environmental and cultural experiences to Aboriginal high school students from across South Australia.

The Aboriginal Engagement Network meets a few times each year and advises the board on delivery of its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statement of Commitment.

Increased risk of bird flu

The migration of birds to outback lakes and wetlands after rain and to Spencer Gulf over spring will increase the risk of the latest avian influenza in the SA Arid Lands.

Australia is the only continent in the world where the highly infectious H5N1 strain of bird flu has not been detected. To ensure this remains the case, people should be on high alert for signs that birds could be carrying the disease which has caused mass deaths in bird populations worldwide. While this strain has the potential to pass to mammals and humans through contact, the incidence of this has been rare.

Find out what to do if you see unusual signs of disease or mass bird deaths.

Andy the Ant is back!

It has been a while, but the popular children’s publication Andy the Ant has been revised and reprinted by the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board.

The fun activity book helps school-aged children understand the natural resources of the SA Arid Lands region through stories, games, crosswords, dot-to-dot and find-a-word puzzles.

Meeting Andy the Ant as he travels around the region are Robby the Rascally Rabbit, Camilla Camel, Barry the Bearded Dragon, Wanda the Wedge-tailed Eagle and Pete and Pam the Pastoralists. They are joined in this latest edition by Fiesty Fred the Feral Cat, Keith the Kowari and Regina and Russell the Rangers.

Download your own copy from our website or get a printed version at a board event soon. The reprint was supported by the Kingoonya Landscape Group.

Daisy hunt in Dutchman's Stern

Students and volunteers have spent hours traversing the slippery slopes of Dutchman’s Stern Conservation Park near Quorn on the hunt for the nationally vulnerable Super Groundsel daisy.

Part of a Grassroot Grant project awarded to the Threatened Plant Action Group, the monitoring activity involved counting current populations, revising historical records and searching for new plants.

Find out what they found.

Pastoral Field Day returns in 2025

The return of the Pastoral Field Day to Port Augusta in March 2025 provides an opportunity to learn, connect with others and check out the latest products available to the pastoral industry.

Whether you are looking for innovative ideas, practical knowledge or an opportunity to catch up with others in the pastoral community, this is an event that you can’t afford to miss.

Take a look at the early program additions.

Social events bring families together

Social events designed to bring together families to hear from speakers, socialise and catch up have continued across the SA Arid Lands region.

Events including an Outback Golf Day and a Canoe and Fishing Day have been held in the North Flinders, North East Pastoral, Gawler Ranges and Marree-Innamincka districts with one final event planned for early next year.

Find out more

Sheep focus for Bindarrah workshop

Sheep producers in the North East Pastoral district were able to get the latest on sheep eID requirements and see the latest ag-tech equipment in use at an Improving Traceability in the Rangelands workshop at Bindarrah Station in November.

Also on the program were an introduction to the carbon market and livestock emissions in the pastoral industry, and the latest research into bioclip wool harvesting.

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Outback women gather in Hawker

More than 90 women from across the SA Arid Lands region converged on Hawker in October to celebrate International Rural Women’s Day.

Delivered by the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board and funded by the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, the Outback Ladies Muster event was designed by women in the region and supported the Hawker community and pastoral properties that had been impacted by drought.

Watch the video

Events support bush food knowledge sharing

Activities to share knowledge about growing, harvesting and marketing bush food crops to the next generation of growers and supply chain contacts in the region were planned by the Quorn Community Landcare Group in October.

Offered as part of the Quandong Festival, the events at this year’s festival included a tag-a-long tour and industry networking event.

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Outdoor learning in Port Augusta

An Outdoor Learning Adventure Passport to encourage children to understand the arid environment has been produced by the Friends of the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden.

Supported with a 2023/24 Grassroot Grant, the Friends engaged nature and outdoor education specialist Maria Taylor of Outside the Box Learning to create a unique resource available for schools. Maria worked closely with a small, dedicated group of the Friends to decide what to include before creating the booklets and cards.

Targeted at primary school aged children, the passports can also be used for older students. They are part of activity packs that are available for purchase by school groups or individually from the garden’s gift shop.

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