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SPECIAL FEATURE: OUTBACK WA
So why are we making it
so hard by denying them the
opportunity to produce alternative
and sustainable forms of income
from the land? The October
2017 WA Auditor General’s
Report for The Management
of Pastoral Lands in Western
Australia Report confirms, “The
ecological sustainability of
pastoral lands is not adequately
protected by the State’s current
system of land monitoring and
administration. Pastoral lands
have been under threat for over
75 years, and during that time
there has been limited progress
to halt the decline in pastoral land
condition”. An area three times
the size of Tasmania has now
been degraded to the point its
productivity, and natural balance
has all but been lost. So, is there
any return from this point?
Recent initiatives such as
the Indigenous Ranger Programs
are leveraging new technology,
and modern scientific solutions
mixed with a vast experience
of traditional cultural values
and knowhow. These programs
are changing people’s lives and
the landscape they live in by
looking after and maintaining
vital infrastructure and managing
bushfires. The program is also
crucial in the control of feral
animals for the prevention of
wildlife extinctions.
As the action group Outback
WA points out, while this initiative
has been an extraordinary winwin,
the outdated pastoral laws
need to change to support
diversification; to enable
sustainable and profitable
business practices such as
carbon farming or developing
tourism into these areas. Stations
could open up their properties
and allow us to camp and explore
privately managed land.
But is it too little too late, can
we claw back the damage and
rehabilitate this exhausted and
overworked land? Well, Wooleen
Station has certainly begun the
long and arduous process to do
just that.
Founded in 1886, Wooleen
Station is located 700km north
east of Perth in the Murchison
Shire of Murchison. Sitting on
an ancient landscape, it is home
to some of the oldest rocks on
the planet. It covers 36km of the
Murchison and Roderick River
including the nationally important
Image by Kerry Trapnell
Above: Regeneration
in the Mid West.
Right: Feral donkeys
on Mundale Track,
Great Western
Woodlands. Below:
‘Getting behind our
Outback’ supporters.