I started the week exploring the wetlands of Kakadu National Park in Northern Australia. I have ended the week exploring the wetlands of Central New South Wales (South Eastern Australia) with my friend Gill Hogendyk.
Gill, a trained vet, has always had a particular interest in bird watching. After moving to Warren (just north of Dubbo and south of the Macquarie Marshes) in 1990, Gill started taking a particular interest the birds of the Ramsar listed Macquarie Marshes.
Gill is increasingly concerned that the almost exclusive focus on environmental flows and water use by irrigators (her partner grows cotton) has distracted attention from the potential impacts of grazing on wetland environments including in the Macquarie Marshes.
This aerial photo taken earlier this year of the Marshes, shows the dramatic impact of grazing. The fence is the line of demarcation between an overgrazed private property and ungrazed nature reserve. The impact of grazing here is obvious and dramatic.
Over recent years there has been a focus on Australia's intensive agricultural industries (eg. horticulture, cotton, sugar) and their environmental impacts with most of these industries undertaking environmental audits and developing codes of practice to address issues of community concern.
The grazing industry has had to contend with bans on tree clearing and been excluded from areas including the High Country, but there seems to have been limited interest in promoting best practice and addressing issues of overgrazing.
In the 1940s and 1950s there were restrictions on grazing and burning in the Macquarie Marshes including:
1. Reeds shall not be burned except with the written consent of the district surveyor,
2. Stock shall be excluded from all (reed) regrowth until 3 foot high, and
3. Rookeries (for bird nesting and breeding) will be completely enclosed with a sheep and cattle proof fence.
I understand that there are currently no such conditions on grazing in the Marshes.
It seems incredible that the flood-plain graziers of New South Wales are screaming so loudly for more water and attracting considerable media attention and yet the issue of overgrazing is being ignored by all.
Aerial photograph showing impact of grazing on the Macquarie Marshes.
The website mantained by the local Marsh management committee explains that The Macquarie Marshes is a large non terminal wetland in central west New South Wales and covers approximately 200,000 hectares, 88 percent of which is privately owned. The Macquarie Marshes Nature Reserve makes up the remaining 12 percent and is managed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
UPDATE 24TH OCTOBER 2005
I have received some offline emails assuming that the main problem for the marshes is low flow because of Cubbie Station. The Macquarie Marshes are NOT downstream of Cubbie and the Condamine Balonne system.
Rather as detailed here: The Macquarie River is formed by the joining of the Fish and Campbell rivers near Bathurst. The Turon, Cudgegong, Bell, Little and Talbragar rivers join the Macquarie River as it travels north-west. Near the township of Warren, the Macquarie becomes a complex system of effluent creeks, wetlands and floodplains connecting the Macquarie, Barwon and Bogan rivers. The Macquarie Marshes are the wetland and marsh country of this area, consisting of about 40,000 ha of core wetland with up to 220,000 ha inundated during major floods.
The climate of the lower Macquarie River catchment is semi-arid. Rainfall and altitude decrease from east to west, while temperature increases. The marshes are less than 200 metres above sea level and receive approximately 400 mm of rain per year, although flooding occurs in most years due to rainfall in the headwaters of the catchment and occasionally locally (for example, as happened in 1983 and 1995).
Two sections of the marshes are separated by an isthmus and lie on early Tertiary alluvium. The southern section consists of open water linked by anabranches of the river, and contains reed swamps and other emergent vegetation. The northern marshes consist of more prominent braided channels and more extensive reed swamp and river red gum woodland.
Monday 25 February ABC1 TV storyon Mcquarie Marshes being decimated by illgeal clearing and daming! Do you have info you can share on this
vandalism? I am 80 years old retired photojournalist very angry after viewing ABC story and pictures inc Sattelite Pics. Kindest regards Kevin R to Jennifer.
Monday 25 February ABC1 TV storyon Mcquarie Marshes being decimated by illgeal clearing and daming! Do you have info you can share on this
vandalism? I am 80 years old retired photojournalist very angry after viewing ABC story and pictures inc Sattelite Pics. Kindest regards Kevin R
Knowledge vs Profit.
Exports vs Wildlife.
We are now approaching a no win situation:the sheeps back has broken.What too do?Do we keep going on and on?Do we vote in a polical party that offers us the big bandaid.Should'nt the federal government come up with a bilateral approach when it comes too the environment.This is not something that you vote on.Environment issues should be dealt with by independant scientists and wildlife carers, not right wing government dicks in boiler suits!They just don't care, all they care about is balancing the countries economy verses the cost of the environment.This sort of nonsence must stop!We are already at a point of no return,lets at least slow the process;get rid of cotton farms, cut back on sugar farming, and don't export any coal or beef.That should do it!You see it's so easy.
My father and brothers and I have been hunting feral pigs in the marshes for close to 30 yrs....The two main farms we have hunted on both border the nature reserve. Over the last seven or so years we have seen a major decline in water levels etc...no doudt some of this because of the drought.But having seen this area in similar drought times(early 90's) there was always water in the Macquarie River and surrounding wet lands...it was only the open plain areas that did not get any water...We have no doubt that the cotton industry has han a huge impact on the water in the Marsh.... water is not released on a regular basis as it used to, and too much water is allocated to the cotton industry.When the Marsh is full of water the cattle can not get to the areas deep in the marsh,and stay on the open plans.Something needs to be done to help the farmers on this beautiful part of our country!!
Hi all
The Hogendyks are the only ones at this early time calling a SPADE A SPADE when questioning environmental terrorism in the macquarie marshes that has occurred over the last 160 years , many fauna species have become extinct especially mammals , paddy mellons ,kangaroo rat ETC via any current activity will do it ,(over grazing or ferral animal miss management). I dare say that the water rat so prevalent last century will be non existant there soon (the bulgeragah creek that is never dry and was once well vegetated in the marshes is their last stand).
Keep up the good work
I have been up to the marshes and recived a talk from Jill, and saw a presentation incldung the photo you showed here. I also spoke to many other locals who did not have such a vested interest in discounting the damage done by irrigators. I belive the photo was taken during a drought and is of only one farm.
Most of the wetland graziers I spoke to loved the marshes, were deeply involved in the fight to increase water allocations and had a vested interest in maintaing healthy wetlands. There is a graziers saying"fat ducks mean fat cattle"; for the past 100 years the graziers have been grazing the wetland sustainably and making a profit.
On the other hand, since huge volumes of water have been diverted to the cotton farmers, the wetlands have been slowly dieing. The worst part is that the cotton farmers have to use huge volumes of pesticide, and genetically modifies cotton, and they still cannot remain profitable against the subsidies US market. It is a travesty that we are letting our an internationally recognised wetland die so that the Hogendyke's and cotton farmers can go broke more slowly.