In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a number of people in the Manangatang area became involved in tree planting and soil conservation projects either self funded or through State agencies. With the advent of the Landcare movement in the mid 1980s, Manangatang had the foundations of a strong group. In 1989, a farm planning day was held and the idea of a Landcare Group was formed.

The Manangatang Landcare Group was officially formed in 1990 when a number of landholders approached the Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands about subsidies for sand dune reclamation work to combat soil erosion. It was proposed that all the community would gain better value from purchasing a land plane for ongoing use. The Landcare Group was formed to receive the funding on behalf of the community and to coordinate use of the land plane and other natural resource management activities. The Landcare Group quickly took on the role of coordinating and promoting other activities such as rabbit and weed control, revegetation and salinity control activities.

The average membership of the group is 40 to 50 members, which represents about 50-60% of all landholders in the district. Of those landholders that are not financial members, many participate in Landcare coordinated activities such as pest control campaigns. Rabbit ripping campaigns conducted between 1997 and 2000 had 100% landholder participation.

The Landcare movement has always enjoyed a great deal of support in the Manangatang district and membership has always been a fairly high proportion of landholders. Membership among the non-farming community, by contrast, has always been quite low.

Past and Present Projects:

Some of the projects carried out by the group include:

• The erection of a rabbit proof fence around Tati Tati Nature Reserve which involved the removal of the old fence and fencing around a 200 ha reserve. The result has seen significant regeneration of native vegetation and the subsequent removal of all rabbits and foxes.
• The Manangatang Farm Vegetation Pilot Project, which has involved the establishment of three demonstration sites showcasing the utilisation of native vegetation to help combat issues such as soil erosion and salinity.
• The Manangatang Area Wildlife Corridor Enhancement Project is aimed at establishing vegetation corridors between reserves in the area. It is a three year project and will see a total of 38, 000 seedlings and 30km of direct seeding be established on both public and private land.
• A project that is funded by the community ($2, 500) involves the removal of prickly pear cactus, boxthorn and paterson's curse. Priority sites have been sprayed with a 98% kill in the first year and 100% success in the subsequent years.

The Future:

Pest Animals:

Goal: "To reduce rabbit and fox numbers to acceptable levels (rabbits <1 per km and foxes <1 per 5km2 )."

Pest Plants:

Goal: "Eradication of all local priority weeds from the district."

Native Vegetation Protection and Enhancement:

"To establish native vegetation corridors for priority remnant vegetation."

Salinity:

Goal: "For salinity control work to be undertaken by all landholders in priority areas."

Soil Erosion:

Goal: "To have sustainable tillage practices adopted more widely in the group area and to undertake sand dune reclamation work on all affected areas."

Local Area Action Plan

The Manangatang Landcare Group developed its Local Area Action Plan with assistance from its Landcare Group Facilitator, Jamie Pook, and the Mallee Catchment Management Authority. The purpose of the Local Area Action Plan is to:

• Review and celebrate achievements
• Monitor the progress of current projects
• Reflect on the group's performance and address internal group issues
• Set short to medium term goals
• Plan seasonal and annual activities

The plan will also assist in justifying project bids requiring external funding.

Download Local Area Action Plan (1239KB)