26 April
2006 - An arid outback sheep station with vast
saltbush and native grassland plains, wetlands
and rugged rocky outcrops will be conserved for
future generations by its addition to Australia’s
National Reserve System.
Australian Minister for the
Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell,
announced today that the Australian Government
had provided $1.6 million to help buy Boolcoomatta
Station, a 63,000 hectare pastoral property in
the far north-east of South Australia near Broken
Hill.
The property would be owned
and managed by the Australian Bush Heritage Fund
and had been purchased in partnership with the
Nature Foundation of South Australia.
“Boolcoomatta’s former owners,
the Badger family, have taken great care of this
fantastic arid environment,” Senator Campbell
said.
“In selling Boolcoomatta, they
have entrusted Bush Heritage with extensive woodlands
of mulga, and river red gum, freshwater wetlands
and more than 35 species of saltbush. Boolcoomatta
also provides key habitat for threatened species,
such as the plains wanderer and thick-billed grasswren.”
Bush Heritage is a private land
conservation business operating as an independent,
non-profit organisation for the purchase and protection
of land of outstanding conservation value.
It is one of a several private
and public sector organisations that manages land
under Australia’s National Reserve System, a collaborative
nation-wide network of reserves especially set
up to protect the nation’s unique natural environment
for current and future generations. The Australian
Government works with State, Territory and local
governments, Indigenous communities, private landholders
and conservation groups to buy and manage land
for future generations.
“This purchase highlights the
growing role of the private sector in protecting
our environment by contributing to our National
Reserve System. It is only by governments working
together with conservation groups and the private
sector that we can hope to achieve our conservation
goals, ” Senator Campbell said.
Australian Bush Heritage Fund
Chief Executive Officer Doug Humann said Boolcoomatta
was tremendously important because it protected
ecosystems and land types that were poorly reserved
elsewhere.
“Bush Heritage works to build
a more representative National Reserve System
and Boolcoomatta will do that in spades,” Mr Humann
said.
“Native grasslands are among the most depleted
ecosystems in eastern Australia and the fauna
that live in them have markedly declined. Boolcoomatta,
with its vast plains, is the first reserve in
South Australia to protect the plains-wanderer,
a nationally vulnerable grassland bird.
“Rare plants such as the remarkable
purple wood with its vivid purple timber are also
found on Boolcoomatta, but are at risk in the
region. Control of feral animals such as goats,
rabbits and foxes together with the removal of
stock will enhance the living conditions for both
species.”
Mr Humann said Bush Heritage
would work co-operatively with Boolcoomatta’s
neighbours, particularly in relation to the control
of weeds and feral animals and if necessary, the
management of over-grazing by kangaroos.
The Nature Foundation of South
Australia will have ongoing input into the management
of Boolcoomatta, particularly in the area of scientific
research.
Duncan MacKenzie, Executive
Director of the Nature Foundation SA said his
organisation envisaged running a range of biodiversity
projects that would provide an understanding of
how the region worked.
Australian Government funds for the purchase of
Boolcoomatta came through the National Reserve
System Programme, part of the Natural Heritage
Trust.
“Since 1997, the Australian
Government has invested more than $80 million
to build the National Reserve System, adding more
than 20 million hectares to the nation’s protected
land areas,” Senator Campbell said.
“As the National Reserve System Programme approaches
its tenth anniversary, Boolcoomatta brings to
271 the number of landholdings added to the National
Reserve System.
“More than 80 million hectares
- 10 per cent of Australia’s continent - is now
protected under the National Reserve System,”
he said.
