Working together to create healthy habitats
Many hands make light work. Those hands when motivated by a shared goal and passion can achieve great things.
That’s certainly true of our partnership with Landcare in NSW. By working together, OzFish and Landcare NSW are making a positive difference to habitat restoration.
The scale of what can be achieved through collaboration was highlighted recently when one of our joint efforts in the Murray-Darling Basin reached a significant milestone. We have just planted our 10,000th tree along the Wambuul Macquarie River at Dubbo.
This catchment is a key part of the Murray-Darling Basin and is representative of the many challenges faced across the wider Basin. The beleaguered waterways in the region have endured significant degradation over a prolonged period, including the recent worst drought on record.
The first high flows following the drought caused fish kills because top soil washed into the river coated their gills. An increased number of sticks and leaves in the water also introduced more carbon, causing the dissolved oxygen levels to crash.
The native trees and shrubs the OzFish Inland Waterways Chapter and Dubbo Rivercare are returning to the area will help to stabilise the riverbanks, protecting them from erosion and future natural disasters, and also provide valuable shade and food for native fish in the river.
All of this combines to build a healthy ecosystem around and in the water, and supports native fish numbers. Popular species with anglers in the area include Murray cod and golden perch (a.k.a. yellow belly).
The area covered by the project is also home to endangered species such as silver perch, freshwater catfish and trout cod.
This has not been achieved overnight and there is still a long way to go when addressing challenges faced in the Murray-Darling Basin, but steady progress is being made.
The first of those trees was planted by a group of recreational fishers known as the Inland Waterways Rejuvenation Association (IWRA). The IWRA teamed up with OzFish and the good work started years ago has been scaled-up.
The 10,000th tree was one of 2,500 planted by OzFish and local Landcare group Dubbo Rivercare, as well as other community groups and schools, across 2.5 hectares of land owned by Taronga Western Plains Zoo.
OzFish’s partnership with Landcare NSW is funded by the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust and supported by funding from the federal government’s Murray-Darling Healthy Rivers Program and Driving Fish Habitat Action. This project is a great example of what like-minded organisations and people can achieve by working towards a shared objective.
We’re all helping to create better habitat and better fishing.
The project on the Wambuul Macquarie River at Dubbo is just one of several collaborative projects between OzFish and Landcare NSW.
We are proud to have the support of Boating, Camping and Fishing – BCF on this and all our projects across Australia.