Kuitpo Forest

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:11): I rise to take this opportunity to bring to the house some observations about a visit I was fortunate to have at Kuitpo Forest last Thursday with the Goolwa to Wellington Local Action Planning Association to look at some of the marvellous work that that association is doing on the ground to restore habitat and environment.

It is one that I want to draw particular attention to because it is an opportunity in a relatively nearby open environment and one indeed that has been managed over recent generations and has been transformed from the bushland that it once was via the forestry of the adjoining Kuitpo Forest into a site that can demonstrate what effective intervention, management and involvement can cause in terms of the regeneration of a native environment.

This is a theme that I think is very important for us to be aware of in this space. Often we are not dealing with a pristine wilderness in the management of our environment. Rather, we are applying wisely the knowledge that we acquire in this space to manage and, in the process, to improve the resilience and the diversity that is out there.

Last Thursday, Ben Simon, who is a senior project officer for the Eastern Hills and Plains at GWLAP, led us on a walk through this part of Kuitpo, together with Jacqui Wilson of GWLAP. There was a group of us, most of whom are members of the local community in the Meadows and Hills area. We took the time to see the practical outcomes that can be achieved when efforts are put into reducing blackberry, getting on top of the radiata pine that has found its way into this space and sensibly managing the reduction of those pines, getting rid of the blackberry over time and giving room for the bushland to flourish.

That also involves a consciousness of the effects of browsing and grazing by overabundant species. It is to be borne in mind that the intervention that has occurred in that space is largely about weed control, and there are dramatic changes that occur where attention is paid to removing blackberries. It is also about being aware that an overabundance of grazing pressure—that is largely from western grey kangaroos in this area but also from deer—has a distinct effect of threatening the natural biodiversity in that area. It is a topic that was addressed in the course of our visit on that day.

I really want to commend the practical work of the Goolwa to Wellington Local Action Planning Association. I know that they are an organisation that relies on government funding and project funding of different sorts, and they go about their work to deliver practical outcomes on the ground. I applaud them for the contribution that they make. Further, I want to specifically acknowledge the long and dedicated service of Ross Oke as general manager of that organisation over a long period of time.