Central West LLS announces initiatives to promote riparian restoration and soil health

15 Nov 2023

Central West Local Land Services (LLS) is calling for expressions of interest from landholders who want to promote riparian restoration and soil health on their properties.

The Riparian Restoration Program and Soil and Land Program are seeking locations to develop demonstration sites that will showcase environmental stewardship and how best to conserve our local ecosystems.

Central West LLS Senior Land Services Officer Dominic Nowlan said the programs will enable landholders to restore and improve habitat and natural environments on farms to help protect priority species across the region.

“Riparian areas are the zones adjacent to rivers, creeks and other water bodies. They play a crucial role in maintaining water quality, preventing erosion and supporting biodiversity” Mr Nowlan said.

“Unfortunately, these areas are often subject to degradation due to stock access and over grazing.

“Our Riparian Restoration Program aims to assist in raising awareness about the importance of riparian areas in the landscape and promote environmental stewardship practices.

“The Soil and Land Program will focus on healthy soils that are crucial to the function of a healthy ecosystem and productive farming.

“Due to the nature of our soils and some farming practices, our soils have become degraded. The most common soil degradation issues across our region are dryland salinity and erosion.

“Demonstration sites for the Soil and Land program will be used to showcase different management techniques that can be adopted to assist in restoring and improving identified erosion and dryland salinity sites.”

Expressions of interest close 5.00 pm on 3 December 2023.

Read more about the programs and apply online.