OUR PROJECTS
In the past six years the Githabul Rangers have successfully treated thousands of hectares of invasive weed affected country and contributed to the improvement of large areas of land to assist in the protection of our highly diverse and valuable native plants and animals.
The Ranger team has also begun to research changes to the natural environment, constructed walking trails, helped bring members of the community back out on country, delivered language workshops and worked with younger members of the community to teach them about natural resource management techniques.
As the skills of the Githabul Rangers have developed, long term projects have been established to address priority threats to the values of Githabul Country. The Githabul Rangers are now responsible for managing some of the largest Bell Minor Associated Dieback Projects in the country and have received praise from other land management groups who have been combating this issue for many years.
More information about our projects can be found below.
Bush Regeneration Sites
The Githabul Rangers undertake large scale assessments of the 9 National Parks and 10 State Forests within their region to establish priorities for land management projects implemented by the team.
On ground work involves a range of weed management techniques including spraying, hand pulling, traditional fire management, propagation and planting of native species.
The current major Project Sites include:
Project Site Maps
Mathieson’s Road Project - Located within Toonumbar State Forest and selected because of the significant issues associated with Bell Minor Associated Dieback.
Tooloom Falls Project - Selected due to its importance for the local Githabul community and the infestation of the river bank by invasive weeds.
Wallaby Creek Project - This project site is being worked on to remove a range of invasive species to help restore the remaining world heritage listed rain forest.
Mt Lindesay (Jalgumbunj) Project - Selected due to the mountains strong cultural importance to the Githabul community and the presence of Bell Minor Associated Dieback on an area of National Park that incorporates part of the slope of Mount Lindesay.
Clarence Project - This project site incorporates weed work that is providing habitat for feral pigs along the Clarence River. This project incorporates regeneration of private land, National Park and State Forest.
Marylands Lantana Project - This project aims to restore dry schlerophyl forest with heavy lantana infestation in the Marylands National Park north of Tenterfield.
Wildlife Surveys
As part of their role, the Githabul Rangers undertake ongoing flora and fauna monitoring of their project sites. Ongoing monitoring assists the team to assess the work they have undertaken and helps inform future on ground management required at each location.
Monitoring of vegetation is undertaken at established monitoring plots and transects prior and after significant on ground activities such as weed works and fire management. The Ranger Team also undertakes night surveys of tree dwelling animals and monitors native and introduced species using sand pads for track counts on the ground.
All of the work undertaken by the Githabul Rangers is recorded on mobile tablets, which can then be used in the office to produce reports and maps that are valuable for the ongoing management of each site.
For the past three years the Githabul Rangers turtle monitoring program has helped improve our understanding of the movement and abundance of freshwater turtles in our rivers. Turtles are an important food for Githabul people and diving for them is a popular past time for all ages. The Githabul Rangers hope to determine the health of current turtle populations in areas where hunting occurs and also link this to the health of the river systems. In coming months the Githabul Rangers also hope to monitor other river species such as threatened fish species and invasive pests like the European carp which have been recently caught in Githabul rivers and can have very damaging effects on local waterways.
CULTURAL ACTIVITIES
Every year the Githabul Rangers invite members of the community out to their project sites so that the community can see the team undertake their work in the field and spend time with the Rangers discussing their future plans for the management of the area. Great feedback has been received from the community members and the Rangers enjoy being able to share stories of their progress.
The Githabul Rangers also regularly host groups of school children on organised bush walks to share their cultural knowledge and duties as Rangers in the field.
©Githabul Rangers 2019