Fencing projects benefit the Cape
July 2011
40 kilometres of fencing along rivers and creeks has been funded by Reef Rescue across Cape York Peninsula over the last financial year. This riparian fencing, along with five new watering points for cattle is a major component of the Reef Rescue Program for the Cape.
Landholders undertaking Reef Rescue projects must match government funds on a dollar for dollar basis, so it's no surprise that many landholders are doing their own fencing so that their in-kind labour is valued against any Reef Rescue grant.
Some of the watering points funded in the last round used solar pumping systems, which are quite expensive. But more landholders prefer dams as watering points, particularly if their properties are large and the owner is not able to check that floats in troughs are working properly.
Watering points not only provide an effective alternative to creek access, they can also be used to take pressure off of overgrazed areas by opening up underutilised parts of the property that were previously without water. Troy D'Addona of Butchers Hill Station is building a dam for this very purpose, to take pressure off the existing dam and surrounding land.
The improvements seen by installing watering points provides landholders of the Cape further incentive to increase their adoption of such incentives through the Reef Rescue Program.
