Skip to main content

Land Management

Poor planning led to out-of-control prescribed burn that damaged WA wilderness retreat, report finds

A review obtained by the ABC finds preparation for the 2020 burn in the Kimberley was "underpinned by plans produced by a division based in Perth" and contained information irrelevant to the local landscape.
Image of a burned landscape stretching up to the side of a building in a remote part of the Kimberley.

Farmers vow to lock their gates against 'once-in-a-generation' power project

Some are cheering the extra income from a proposed renewable energy transmission line, while others are vowing to lock their gates against electricity provider Transgrid.
A man wearing a blue shirt and a hat looking displeased.

Indigenous leaders concerned country is being mismanaged, leading to severe flooding

Yorta Yorta leaders want people to "read the language of the land" after January flooding along the Goulburn River.
An Indigenous man with white hair, standing on a river bank.

Tonga's 'Aquaman' was swept away from his island home. Now he can't go back

Lisala Folau, known as Tonga's "Aquaman", survived 27 hours in open ocean after being swept from his island home. Two years on from that day, his island is abandoned.   
Updated
The now abandoned Atata Island. 

Ecologist and developer become birds of a feather to save critical cockatoo habitat

An unlikely friendship between an ecologist and a landowner/developer wanting to subdivide proves to be the best chance of preserving a population of glossy black cockatoos in northern NSW. 
Updated
two men in the bush

Women caring for country create principles for workers who feel they 'don't have a voice'

A set of best-practice principles have been drawn up to help employers support Indigenous women working in land management to "grow, progress, and blossom" in the Northern Territory.
Updated
An Aboriginal woman holds a document with a pink table out in front of her. The document is the best practice principles.

Adelaide Hills residents urged not to over-clear native vegetation in preparation for fire season

Some landholders believe the heightened fears for this fire season could lead to people clearing too much native vegetation.
A CFS firefighter stands next to a koala.

How these tiny seeds will generate jobs, homes and help the environment

Traditional owners will plant 4.5 million trees on a barren property near Esperance so they can earn income by trading carbon offsets with big companies. L'Oréal Groupe has already started investing in the business.
Updated
A palm with seeds in it

Mining for rare earths is vital for renewable energy, but SA farmers fear for the future of their land

Plans for a large rare earths mining project is meeting resistance from south-east farmers, who worry some of South Australia's best farmland will be lost.
A man wearing a red shirt sitting on a fence with sheep in the background.

Bushfires in central Australia fuel debate about whether buffel grass or native grasses burn more intensely

Huge bushfires in central Australia have ignited discussions about the role of buffel grass in increasing fire risks ahead of a recommendation on whether or not the plant should be declared a weed in the Northern Territory.
Updated
Buffel grass grows high east of Alice Springs

Goats added to rail fleet to manage bushfire hazards on difficult blocks

A herd of goats has "annihilated" weeds posing a fire risk in inaccessible terrain in a third of the time they were given to get the job done. Now the landowners have bigger ideas.
Updated
goat in hi-viz vest.

33 million hectares of land already burnt this NT bushfire season, surpassing Black Summer's total

Ben Hayes says 60 per cent of his vast Central Australian cattle station has been burnt as the Northern Territory reports that an area five times the size of Tasmania has already been scorched this season.
A massive cloud of smoke rises from scrub

Does Sydney have a place for exclusive golf courses or should they be used for parks?

Nearly 100,000 Sydneysiders play on Moore Park golf course each year. After the Minns government announced it would cut it in half for parkland, there is now divided opinion on how green spaces should be used in the city. 
Updated
A golfer plays at the Royal Sydney Golf Course in Rose Bay

Farmers 'stunned': Controversial gas pipeline step closer after Santos agent buys land

Farmers fighting Santos's Hunter Gas Pipeline suddenly noticed survey pegs along the route. A title search shows the surveyed land is now owned by the directors of the company negotiating land access for Santos.
Updated
A photo composition of landholders Margaret Fleck and Mick Fetch.

As a place for big dreams, this Kimberley cattle station shows how conservation and pastoral goals can combine

Bullo River Station on the edge of the east Kimberley is a cattle station with its gaze firmly fixed on nature. Working with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, they are demonstrating conservation and pastoral activities can coexist.
Updated
In the golden light of a dusty evening, is a silhouette of man in hat on horseback leading cattle.

'Water has always been at the very core of our existence' say traditional owners after watershed deal

Under a new licensing agreement, more Victorian water is being returned to Gippsland's Gunaikurnai traditional owners in a bid to further strengthen their connection to country.
Limestone caves

Man fined $14,000 for dam encroaching on national park home of endangered wallaby

Warren Spicer, 81, dug out a massive dam that encroached on Dryander National Park, home of the Proserpine rock-wallaby that only lives within restricted rainforest areas of the Whitsundays region.
Updated
A close-up shot of a Proserpine rock wallaby

Land values in a tiny patch of WA's outback skyrocket as big cotton moves in

Australia's legacy cotton country is once again bone-dry, but some of the area's largest growers have set their sights on an unlikely part of Australia where the grass might just be greener.
An irrigation channel.

Artificial intelligence technology to analyse status of 'cryptic' bird, bilby and kowari on outback station

The search for the plains-wanderer will involve AI and bio-acoustic recorders to detect it and other highly vulnerable species.
A small, grey bilby in its natural habitat at night

Top End rangers are funding fire mitigation with carbon credits. Why can't it be done in the desert?

As ranger groups in the NT's Top End use funding from carbon credits to prepare for a tough bushfire season, groups in the desert are calling for access to the same scheme. 
An aerial photo of a line of fire along foliage in the desert

Fears for 'critically important' koala colony as major hazard reduction burn begins in Sydney's south west

The Rural Fire Service says a growing koala colony in and around Holsworthy Military Barracks has been at the forefront of planning for a significant back-burn today, ahead of bushfire season.
Updated
A grey, fluffy koala sleeps on a tree branch.

Claims koalas crushed, starving as Kangaroo Island's blue gum plantations come down

Wildlife workers and researchers are calling for a temporary koala refuge on Kangaroo Island while a long-term management plan for the species is being put in place.
Kangaroo Island's koalas "need a plan" as the island's blue-gum plantations come down

Beth's family has holidayed at this corrugated iron shack for generations, but that's about to end

Families are rallying against a Crown Lands plan to demolish holiday shacks that have been passed down through generations.
An elderly woman wearing a bright orange sweater sitting in a lounge chair in front of a corrugated iron shack.

Indigenous teens connect with country while restoring environment ravaged for generations

A NSW youth group is giving a bush regeneration program a huge boost in an effort to reverse past mistakes.
A girl pouring a box-full of red, brown and yellow seeds into a bucket.

Leaseholders welcome 20-year strategy to manage ACT's natural resources

The ACT Government says the 20-year plan is a 'broad roadmap' that will benefit the entire territory community.
ABC News Current
Duration: 1 minute 49 seconds