Regional Natural Asset Management - May 2014

The operation was a great success and achieved the objective we set out to deliver in a very compact timeframe which rapidly became a single window of opportunity.  The task was not glamorous and the terrain was often difficult but the weather was kind to us (we managed to slot the operation in the week leading up to TC Ita after postponing the original date due to yet more wet weather).  Importantly, the operation was conducted with no injuries, great team work, high spirits, excellent field communications and a great level of professionalism from everyone involved.  The survey methods we were using in the field were new to us and un-trialled but the teams made it work.  We were also using some newer GPS/communications technologies which we were a little apprehensive about but they worked well in the field and enabled the operation to run smoothly and adapt on the go.  Overall it was a great learning and skill building/sharing experience.

For many it was their first encounter with YCA (most are well versed in your more traditional pests and weeds) and the resounding take home message for all of us was just how much is riding on the success of this project.  For anyone who has not seen these infestations in the flesh it is hard to imagine just what a devastating impact they have on a locality.  In the core of the infestation on Frank Teodo's Edmonton property, where sandy soils allow easy construction of nests, they were simply everywhere.  The entire surface of the ground was a continuous ant nest, every branch, every tree, every leaf was alive with ants.  In areas where they were thickest (along the edges of creeks and on branches crossing water) they formed a menacing orange hue.  The water in the creek was the only place you could stand still and not have ants scale you as well!  No lizards, no frogs, very few birds and the only insects visible where getting carried away by ants.  The scene reminded me of an (early) Tarzan movie I saw as a kid with people pulling up camp running from a swarm of army ants.  Pretty scary stuff.  It is almost impossible to imagine how you could live alongside YCA.

Overall I had a ball organising the ground works, not only did it give me chance to work with some of the region's best back-country pest management operators, it also gave me a the opportunity to wear just a little of the shine off my bum. We all relished the opportunity to work with landholder Frank Teodo. It is always refreshing to get great support from landholder in the pest management business, but it was another thing again to be assisted in the operation by such a competent bushman with boundless energy and an inexhaustible repertoire of jokes, bush poems and yarns.  We're also indebted to Bill Carrodus for maintaining base contact and field communications and Lucy Karger (and other staff from WTMA and CVA) who stitched together seamless logistics which kept the whole show running.

We will keep you posted as to progress as the project rolls out so watch this space.

A native cricket getting carried away by a mass of YCA (left) and a rare picture of landholder Frank Teodo checking lure stations for YCA as we search for the outer limit of the infestation.

Pest Management Plans

We have been progressing the remaining pest management plans with Mareeba and finalising Tablelands and Cassowary Coast which have both been out for public consultation.  We also have conducted the first year review of the Hinchinbrook plan with their pest advisory group and were able to track progress on most management objectives (even with a few setbacks).

Coming up this month

Cape York Peninsula Pest Management Advisory Group – Cooktown, May 13 and 14.