Image: Members of the Green Army teams are assisting landholders on the Murray River to repair riverbanks.

Partnerships between Green Army Teams, Shire of Murray, Department of Lands, the Peel-Harvey  Catchment Council (PHCC) and local landholders are helping to restore the banks of the Murray River.

PHCC chairman Andy Gulliver said PHCC’s engagement of private landholders and support from the Department of Lands to work on the Crown land along the river was the key to initiating the successful process to restore the river banks, with the help of the Green Army.

“The Green Army is working on riparian zones identified for priority actions under the Mid Murray River Action Plan, prepared by the PHCC.  We have been able to facilitate access with the Department of Lands and the private owners to get to these hard-to-reach river banks which is essential to improving the health of the river and create corridors for wildlife,” he said.

Crown Land makes up the majority of the Murray River’s foreshore buffer zone and most of it is affected by weeds which then impact on nearby private and public landholdings.  The PHCC is facilitating the work of contractors and Green Army teams who are helping with fencing, weed control and revegetation over the next six months.

Mr Gulliver said having the teams working on the sites has also raised awareness more widely of the need to manage the riverbanks for weed and erosion issues.   The project helps promote the value of collaboration when it comes to protecting the environment.

“This project is having excellent outcomes.  Apart from improving the condition of the river banks, it enables landholders to reduce the risk of fire on their property, and it increases biodiversity values,” he said.

The Peel-Harvey Catchment Council is leading a landscape scale riverbank erosion control program as part of their Rivers 2 Ramsar initiative with the aim to protect 360 hectares along the Murray River.  The project spans 33 land parcels and stretches along 27 kilometres of riparian foreshore.  The project is supported by the PHCC, through funding from the Australian Government and by in-kind contributions from private and public landholders and a strong partnership with the Shire of Murray.

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ENDS

Media Contact:  Jane O’Malley, Chief Executive Officer, Peel-Harvey Catchment Council, Jane.Omalley@peel-harvey.org.au, (08) 6369 8800

 

We acknowledge the Noongar people as Traditional Custodians of this land and pay our respects to all Elders past and present

 

 

 

We acknowledge the Noongar people as Traditional Custodians of this land and pay our respects to all Elders past and present