Indicator: Livestock access to streams| Indicator description | Complete list of Indicators | What the results tell us for TumutSee also: | Streambank Disturbance | Fencing of 3.5 kilometres of waterways within the Shire has been undertaken as part of six projects approved between May and October 2000 as part of Greening Australia's Bidgee Banks Upper Catchment Project. This project is funded by the Natural Heritage Trust, and is a targeted financial incentive scheme in the Upper and Mid Murrumbidgee catchments. Riparian surveys in the catchments identified areas of high conservation value and erosion ' hot spots' which are a source of nutrient deposits (around 75%) in the Murrumbidgee and its tributaries. The Bidgee Banks Project was established to protect the biodiversity of aquatic and terrestrial systems of the river through restoring riparian vegetation and bank stabilisation. Fencing to exclude stock is a part of that process. How it is measuredData have been collected, filed and maintained by Greening Australia, ACT and SE NSW. Description: What does 'livestock access to streams' measure?Which data are collected?
Why do we report this indicator?Livestock accessing streambanks is a significant cause of streambank erosion in agricultural parts of Australia. Livestock can also degrade the in-stream habitat directly by trampling the streambed and adding pathogens and nutrients from their faeces. It is an indicator of the pressure of some landuses and land management practices on streams. The easiest strategy to avoid this pressure is to construct fences so that livestock are excluded from the riparian zone. Knowledge of the length of streambank and associated riparian zone with stock-proof fencing indicates the severity of this pressure on streambanks, and the rate at which it is being addressed. |