SELF-HERDING TRIALS IN THE NT
"Self-herding and self-shepherding is a discipline that creates opportunities for you to positively influence the decision animals make on where they go, and how they interact with each other, with you and with the landscape. The application of Self Herding principles guides the choice animals make about their grazing habitats and diet selection. By allowing animals to make choices whilst also influencing their ‘decision making’ by shaping their experiences means you can establish long-lasting behaviours that suit your business and your landscapes.
The principles of Self Herding draw on animal behaviour, nutrition, physiology and ecology. We’ve based Self Herding practices on decades of research around the world, including Australia, and have developed a set of practices that are, in themselves, simple and cheap to apply. Self Herding can be tightly focussed around a particular issue such as encouraging animals to use a new area, or broadened to encompass the way livestock, wildlife, plants and people interact over time and space. It’s no exaggeration to think that you can shape the future because when behaviours change, everything changes". Bruce Maynard & Dean Revell
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As part of the jointly agreed obligations that make up the TCA between TNRM and the land manager, management actions may include fencing, weed removal, establishing alternative watering points for cattle, removal of feral animals or changes in burning practices.
Lakefield Station pastoralists Garry and Michelle Riggs set up their first Territory Conservation Agreement in 2011, and now have two TCAs in place over more than 1,000 hectares of their 58,500ha property. The program has allowed them to successfully balance production and conservation on their Sturt Plateau station. They have installed fencing around critical wetland habitats, while locating solar pumps and water points to protect environmentally sensitive areas.