Steve has gamba on the run

HARRISON Dam and Lambells Lagoon hunting reserves could be saved if the Mary River National Park is any indication.

Steve Dwyer the new head ranger at Fogg Dam has recently been awarded the Territory NRM 2021 Ranger of the Year. Steve has spent the past seven years working tirelessly on gamba grass management at Mary River National Park to protect savanna woodlands from this high impact invasive species, and has championed an evidence-based management approach to reduce the impacts of gamba grass fires.

Steve’s new approach was to focus on reducing the impact of gamba fires on savanna trees. He and his team halted the annual burning of gamba and instead excluded fire from those areas and then used fine-scale application of herbicide to reduce the gamba.

This is the first documented case in Northern Australia where tree decline in gamba invaded sites has been halted, and instead there has been an increase in tree cover in previously gamba dominated sites.

Mary River National Park management was focused, smart and with the right resources behind it got the job done. The NTG should own its successes like this, share learnings from it to take on the gamba challenges in other parks and reserves.

Key lesson here, and also in Western Australia being on the cusp of eradication, is that early intervention works. We don’t need to accept the slow march of gamba through every landscape, it’s hard work but it can be done with locals leading the charge and backed by resources and prioritisation from decision makers.

This focus on weed control could be applied to other species like olive hymenachne and mimosa in the vast wetlands across the Top End.

In my first discussions with Steve Dwyer he seems committed to tackling these weeds at Harrison Dam and Lambells Lagoon.

Invasion by grassy weeds and the resulting changes in fire regimes has the ability to significantly alter ecosystem processes and may eventually lead to ecosystem failure.

However, our current understanding about the combined impacts of these threats and the action needed to improve ecosystem function is limited. This project is drawing on existing information about the impacts of land clearing, weed invasion and changes to fire patterns on the natural landscape. Researchers are collecting additional data and use collated information to model the likely scenarios of changes in ecosystem function over the next 30 years in the Darwin and Daly regions. This understanding is critical to land use planning and management to predict, and hopefully prevent, ecosystem failure as well as to improve fire safety for people and infrastructure.

NT Field and Game is holding Sunday Mass clay target practice at the Mickett Creek Shooting Complex range from 9am till noon today. All welcome.

■ Bart Irwin is a spokesman for NT Field and Game.