About 85km north-west of Georgetown, an area larger than the Australian Capital Territory has been declared a nature refuge, protecting habitat for threatened plants and animals.
In July, the 244,000ha Abingdon Downs North Nature Refuge was established — spanning dry eucalypt woodlands and wet eucalypt forests, including parts of the Red and Einasleigh River catchments, and providing critical habitat for threatened and iconic species including the red goshawk, black-throated finch, Gouldian finch and freshwater sawfish.
Nature refuges are a class of private protected area under the state’s Nature Conservation Act 1992 and are administered by a legally binding conservation agreement between a landholder and the Queensland Government.
Combined with other protected areas like National Parks, close to 15 million hectares, or 8.6%, of land in Queensland is now protected.
This project is being supported at a state and federal level, working in partnership with Gunn Agri Partners and the operating entity, Cunningham Cattle Company.
‘It provides an enormous opportunity to combine the skills and learnings of all stakeholders to provide positive environmental, ecological, economic, social, and cultural outcomes,’ said Ray Thieme, General Manager of Cunningham Cattle Company.
The new refuge will support sustainable livestock grazing while preserving conservation values, with Gulf Savannah NRM undertaking biodiversity surveys within the protected area.
Land managers at Abingdon Downs were also participants in GSNRM’s Gulf Riparian Improvement project that increased native vegetation to improve groundcover.
The initiative established additional water points and fencing to utilise grazing away from the Einasleigh River resulting in decreased erosion and sediment runoff.
Visit the Queensland Government website to find out more about nature refuges and Queensland’s Private Protected Area Program.