The Sustainable Grazing of Sheoak Grassy Woodlands Project is a biodiversity tender that aims to protect and enhance areas of grazed Sheoak Grassy Woodland (SGW) through temporary closure to stock grazing and subsequent sustainable grazing management. Under this project payments are offered to farmers and landholders adopting sustainable grazing practises, with payments decided through a reverse auction system.

The project is carried out under WildEyre, a landscape-scale, biodiversity conservation project on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The WildEyre project is made up of a consortium of five South Australian conservation organisations: The Wilderness Society, the South Australian Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Greening Australia, the Eyre Peninsula Natural Resources Management Board and the Nature Conservation Society of South Australia.

The need to act

Drooping Sheoak (Allocasuarina verticillata) Grassy Woodland communities were once widespread across the WildEyre region. Mapping indicates that upwards of 60,000 hectares of SGW community were present in the area in pre-European times (Durant, 2009 draft). However, intensive grazing practices—along with the introduction of rabbits, wildfires and clearance for agriculture and firewood—have led to a dramatic decline in the condition and extent of SGW with a grassy understorey. It is now considered a threatened ecosystem in South Australia.

With approximately 2,669 hectares remaining in the WildEyre region and only 0.3 per cent of this protected in reserves (DEH, 2002), SGW communities have been listed as State Vulnerable. SGW have been recognised as a priority conservation asset in the first iteration of the WildEyre Conservation Action Plan (CAP)—an integrated process for planning, implementing and measuring the success of conservation projects. The viability of these communities is ranked as ‘poor’, meaning ‘an asset that is at risk of severe degradation within 10 years if immediate action is not taken’.

Most remaining tracts of SGW occur on private land and have supported a viable grazing industry since the 1850’s—an increasingly unproductive industry as this community of edible species degrades and is replaced with weed species. As a result, conservationists and farmers alike have a vested interest in the persistence and recovery of SGW, providing an important drive by landholders for sustainable management.

Change to grazing management plus on-ground action to control threats can ensure the long-term viability of these communities. The process of reversing the decline, however, is a long one, and a big commitment for private landholders to carry alone. Anecdotal evidence suggests that nine years of reduced or removed grazing pressure with active management can allow natural regeneration to occur, to a point where the community can become a viable long-term grazing and conservation asset (Durant, 2009).


WildEyre working group member Dr Tim Milne on a project site

How the Sustainable Grazing of Sheoak Grassy Woodlands Project works

In recognising the challenges facing the conservation of SGW, the WildEyre working group and O’Connor NRM have developed a conservation tender. The tender was designed to support landholders to make management changes for long-term conservation benefits. It provides incentives for landholders to change grazing management and control threats to SGW communities on Eyre Peninsula (O’Connor, Morgan and Bond, 2010).
Built on the success and learning from the BushBids and recent Woodland BushBids conservation tenders of the South Australian Government, the Sustainable Grazing of Sheoak Grassy Woodlands Project established conservation contracts to deliver immediate protection to SGW, which will lead to ongoing sustainable grazing management.

The process is a reverse auction whereby eligible landholders submit bids to carry out sustainable grazing and conservation management practices. Bids are assessed based on best conservation value for money. Successful applicants receive annual payments over 10 years.

Specific aims of the project:

• Aim 1: Improve the condition of SGW remnant areas by 10 per cent on 1,200 ha through the establishment of management contracts for cost-effective management at priority sites.
• Aim 2: Increase the area of SGW represented in protected areas (Heritage Agreements) by 250 ha.
• Aim 3: Increase knowledge of the requirements for sustainable grazing and threat management of SGW on private land.
• Aim 4: Demonstrate accountability, transparency, cost-effectiveness and evidence-based decision making processes in achieving biodiversity conservation gains in the WildEyre region.

Outcomes

Landholder engagement was successful, with many landholders demonstrating genuine interest in the project. Through expressions of interest, landholders indicated they are prepared to manage jointly for biodiversity and sustainable grazing outcomes across 63 per cent of the WildEyre SGW community. A number of unsuccessful bidders have since received alternate funding for on-ground works and/or submitted an expression of interest for Eyre Peninsula NRM annual project funding.

Key figures:

• 60 invitations to participate were sent to known SGW landholders.
• 17 expressions of interest were received.
• Two landholder workshops were held in Elliston and Streaky Bay.
• 10 management plans were developed for eligible sites.
• The total area covered by all 10 SGW management plans was 1,629 ha.
• The total price of all received bids was $588,920.
• The total contracted area for 10-year contracts and payments was 940 ha (58 per cent of the eligible area).

Figure 1. Management Plan Area for the Sustainable Grazing of Sheoak Grassy Woodlands Project

Find out more about the Sustainable Grazing of Sheoak Grassy Woodlands Project:
www.epnrm.sa.gov.au/ManagingBiodiversity/SustainableGrazingofSheoakGrassyWoodlands.aspx

Sources
Department of Environment and Heritage 2002, Biodiversity Plan for Eyre Peninsula, Department of Environment and Heritage, South Australia.

Durant, M.D. 2009, ‘WildEyre Sheoak Restoration in the Streaky Bay Region’, Report to the WildEyre Working Group, Greening Australia, South Australia.

O’Connor, Morgan and Bond 2010, Market Based Instrument approach to Sheoak Grassy Woodland grazing management on EP, South Australia.

The Sustainable Grazing of Sheoak Grassy Woodlands Project is a biodiversity tender that aims to protect and enhance areas of grazed Sheoak Grassy Woodland (SGW) through temporary closure to stock grazing and subsequent sustainable grazing management. Under this project payments are offered to farmers and landholders adopting sustainable grazing practises, with payments decided through a reverse auction system.

The project is carried out under WildEyre, a landscape-scale, biodiversity conservation project on the Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The WildEyre project is made up of a consortium of five South Australian conservation organisations: The Wilderness Society, the South Australian Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Greening Australia, the Eyre Peninsula Natural Resources Management Board and the Nature Conservation Society of South Australia.

The need to act

Drooping Sheoak (Allocasuarina verticillata) Grassy Woodland communities were once widespread across the WildEyre region. Mapping indicates that upwards of 60,000 hectares of SGW community were present in the area in pre-European times (Durant, 2009 draft). However, intensive grazing practices—along with the introduction of rabbits, wildfires and clearance for agriculture and firewood—have led to a dramatic decline in the condition and extent of SGW with a grassy understorey. It is now considered a threatened ecosystem in South Australia.

With approximately 2,669 hectares remaining in the WildEyre region and only 0.3 per cent of this protected in reserves (DEH, 2002), SGW communities have been listed as State Vulnerable. SGW have been recognised as a priority conservation asset in the first iteration of the WildEyre Conservation Action Plan (CAP)—an integrated process for planning, implementing and measuring the success of conservation projects. The viability of these communities is ranked as ‘poor’, meaning ‘an asset that is at risk of severe degradation within 10 years if immediate action is not taken’.

Most remaining tracts of SGW occur on private land and have supported a viable grazing industry since the 1850’s—an increasingly unproductive industry as this community of edible species degrades and is replaced with weed species. As a result, conservationists and farmers alike have a vested interest in the persistence and recovery of SGW, providing an important drive by landholders for sustainable management.

Change to grazing management plus on-ground action to control threats can ensure the long-term viability of these communities. The process of reversing the decline, however, is a long one, and a big commitment for private landholders to carry alone. Anecdotal evidence suggests that nine years of reduced or removed grazing pressure with active management can allow natural regeneration to occur, to a point where the community can become a viable long-term grazing and conservation asset (Durant, 2009).


WildEyre working group member Dr Tim Milne on a project site

How the Sustainable Grazing of Sheoak Grassy Woodlands Project works

In recognising the challenges facing the conservation of SGW, the WildEyre working group and O’Connor NRM have developed a conservation tender. The tender was designed to support landholders to make management changes for long-term conservation benefits. It provides incentives for landholders to change grazing management and control threats to SGW communities on Eyre Peninsula (O’Connor, Morgan and Bond, 2010).
Built on the success and learning from the BushBids and recent Woodland BushBids conservation tenders of the South Australian Government, the Sustainable Grazing of Sheoak Grassy Woodlands Project established conservation contracts to deliver immediate protection to SGW, which will lead to ongoing sustainable grazing management.

The process is a reverse auction whereby eligible landholders submit bids to carry out sustainable grazing and conservation management practices. Bids are assessed based on best conservation value for money. Successful applicants receive annual payments over 10 years.

Specific aims of the project:

• Aim 1: Improve the condition of SGW remnant areas by 10 per cent on 1,200 ha through the establishment of management contracts for cost-effective management at priority sites.
• Aim 2: Increase the area of SGW represented in protected areas (Heritage Agreements) by 250 ha.
• Aim 3: Increase knowledge of the requirements for sustainable grazing and threat management of SGW on private land.
• Aim 4: Demonstrate accountability, transparency, cost-effectiveness and evidence-based decision making processes in achieving biodiversity conservation gains in the WildEyre region.

Outcomes

Landholder engagement was successful, with many landholders demonstrating genuine interest in the project. Through expressions of interest, landholders indicated they are prepared to manage jointly for biodiversity and sustainable grazing outcomes across 63 per cent of the WildEyre SGW community. A number of unsuccessful bidders have since received alternate funding for on-ground works and/or submitted an expression of interest for Eyre Peninsula NRM annual project funding.

Key figures:

• 60 invitations to participate were sent to known SGW landholders.
• 17 expressions of interest were received.
• Two landholder workshops were held in Elliston and Streaky Bay.
• 10 management plans were developed for eligible sites.
• The total area covered by all 10 SGW management plans was 1,629 ha.
• The total price of all received bids was $588,920.
• The total contracted area for 10-year contracts and payments was 940 ha (58 per cent of the eligible area).

Figure 1. Management Plan Area for the Sustainable Grazing of Sheoak Grassy Woodlands Project

Find out more about the Sustainable Grazing of Sheoak Grassy Woodlands Project:
www.epnrm.sa.gov.au/ManagingBiodiversity/SustainableGrazingofSheoakGrassyWoodlands.aspx

Sources
Department of Environment and Heritage 2002, Biodiversity Plan for Eyre Peninsula, Department of Environment and Heritage, South Australia.

Durant, M.D. 2009, ‘WildEyre Sheoak Restoration in the Streaky Bay Region’, Report to the WildEyre Working Group, Greening Australia, South Australia.

O’Connor, Morgan and Bond 2010, Market Based Instrument approach to Sheoak Grassy Woodland grazing management on EP, South Australia.