The McGowan Government is investing in the long term condition and productivity of the southern rangelands through a $550,000 funding injection to a pilot revitalisation project.
The Southern Rangelands Revitalisation Pilot project will draw on the extensive experience and knowledge of local pastoralists and establish a pilot group to host producer demonstration sites and share their learnings with the wider industry.
Drawing upon the best available research and technologies, pastoralists involved in the pilot project will test a variety of strategies and options best suited to their circumstances to improve degraded landscapes and lift the productivity of their livestock operations.
A workshop will be held in autumn to engage with pastoralists and other key stakeholders to lay the ground work to roll out of the project, which aims to create enduring benefits from improving the sustainability and productivity of the Southern Rangelands for generations to come.
The Southern Rangelands Revitalisation Project will lay the foundations from which to attract future co-investment to cultivate innovation and build resilience to climate variability in the Western Australian pastoral industry.
As stated by Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan:
“This investment in the Southern Rangelands is yet another demonstration of our Government’s commitment to revitalising WA’s pastoral landscape and the productive capacity of the pastoral region.
“There is no one simple solution to improving the health of the southern rangelands so this project has been designed to test, confirm and demonstrate a variety of technologies and management strategies on the ground over time.
“Tailor made land management and improvement strategies will be developed with pastoralists participating in the pilot to improve land condition to increase the productivity and profitability of their enterprises.
“Collaboration is a key feature of this project, enabling Southern Rangelands pastoralists to share their knowledge and experiences to refine land and business management practices to augment research and aid the adoption of new tools and management strategies.
“We welcome and support the formation of the Southern Rangelands Pastoral Alliance, which will provide a stronger, collaborative and co-ordinated approach to local issues, including those addressed by this pilot project.”
