Reserve Management

Reserve Management at Eurardy Reserve will concentrate on reducing threats to biodiversity. Feral predator control has already commenced with the baiting, trapping and spotlighting of foxes and cats on the reserve.

Sheep grazing on the property has resulted in erosion, loss of soil structure, weed spread and a reduction in the general health of the ecosystem. After only 18 months of destocking remnant bushland, we are beginning to see encouraging signs of recovery: browse lines are dropping and palatable species re-emerging. Ongoing removal of feral herbivores, including goats and rabbits is also further reducing the overall grazing pressure.

Some sharefarming is still occurring on long-cultivated areas. Currently, this arrangement helps to prevent an outbreak of cultivation weeds and provides a significant income stream to help offset management costs. Restoring the balance of the older croplands is not straightforward and may require active revegetation, a process that requires careful planning and significant resources. We are currently developing rehabilitation strategies with two Western Australian universities as well as the sharefarmer to ensure the best possible outcome for this section of altered landscape. The first step was to phase out cropping in the most fragile, sandy paddocks and enable natural regeneration to commence. Within the next six months we will also be fencing off areas of remnant vegetation, including some key salt-affected areas, to further promote colonisation of local species and improve the health of the Bungabandi catchment.

Another key management strategy involves the effective management fire. In the short to medium term we are hoping to exclude wild fire and give the property a chance to recover from previous grazing pressure. In order to achieve this, we are working hard to maintain a series of roads which enable access and response to wildfire as well as serving to dissect large tracts of long-unburnt land to reduce wildfire spread. As we learn more about the responses of endemic species to fire, we will consider using fire as a tool to encourage regeneration and manage fuel loads for the protection of vulnerable vegetation communities.

Weed control and erosion control also feature prominently in Eurardy’s evolving Management Plan as does the ongoing collection of spatial data to ensure informed decision making on the reserve. Building repairs and maintenance are another ongoing priority as is the management of the reserve’s plant and infrastructure for safety, efficiency and presentation.