Remnant native vegetation enhanced

Burnett Mary Regional Group is helping landowners to enhance native vegetation on their properties through measures such as fencing, weed and pest removal, and habitat restoration.

Crawford landowner Brian O’Reilly (pictured) is among those participating in an Australian Government-funded pilot program.

Brian runs beef cattle and has a cell-grazing operation on his property near Kingaroy.

Exclusion fencing has been constructed to maintain and improve the condition of the remnant vegetation on his property.

Over the next few years, almost 3000 endemic tube stock will be planted, creating a wildlife corridor from one side of the property to the other, incorporating vegetation that currently exists.

Brian said he always wanted to enhance native remnant vegetation when he bought the property.

“Just as we developed the place into cell grazing, we then wanted to complement that with virtual wildlife corridors as well,” he said.

“We had the energy to make it happen and the grant made it possible.

“We also wanted to plant more trees. For us, it's about the future generation because there's a lot of these trees we won't get to sit under.”

BMRG project officer Benjamin Hoekstra said Brian’s property has several patches of important remnant vegetation.

“This project will encourage and support the creation of wildlife corridors, connecting habitat and increasing overall biodiversity,” he said.

Brian said he wants to share his story with the community.

“We’d like people to come out, walk through, and look at what has been done,” he said.

“We're close enough to the rail trail, we're close enough to the community, and that’s what we hope to do.”

The Enhancing Remnant Vegetation Pilot program is funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

It encourages and rewards participants for installing fencing, managing weeds and pest animals, and carrying out plantings on their land.