Enhancing and restoring brigalow across the Fitzroy Region
FBA is working to enhance and restore brigalow landscapes across the Fitzroy region and support the species that rely on them. Delivered in partnership with land managers, First Nations peoples, industry and government, FBA’s work in the brigalow landscape aims to create lasting ecological, agricultural and cultural outcomes.
Brigalow is both the name of a native Australian tree species (Acacia harpophylla) and the woodlands and ecosystems it dominates. Once stretching across an area known as the Brigalow Belt, from north Queensland to northern New South Wales, these ecosystems supported a rich diversity of native plants and animals. Today, the Brigalow Threatened Ecological Community (TEC) is listed as endangered and continues to face threats including weeds, inappropriate fire regimes, pest animals and livestock disturbance.
In collaboration with BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), FBA worked with land managers across Central Queensland to explore innovative approaches to managing brigalow within grazing systems and challenge the perception of brigalow as a barrier to production.
The participating properties represented a range of landscapes and production systems, providing valuable insights into how brigalow management can be applied across the Fitzroy region.
When managed effectively, brigalow can improve both land condition and agricultural productivity. As a legume, it fixes atmospheric nitrogen, contributing to soil fertility and supporting plant growth. Brigalow also contributes to soil health and nutrient cycling, stores carbon and provides important habitat for native wildlife. Maintaining healthy brigalow vegetation can help reduce erosion, improve water infiltration and support waterway health by slowing the movement of soil and nutrients into rivers and streams.
Restoring habitat, supporting species
Building on this work, FBA is working with land managers to support the restoration of the Brigalow TEC. Through brigalow regrowth management, weed control, feral animal control, and vegetation monitoring, FBA is helping regrowth brigalow communities develop into more ecologically sustainable ecosystems while increasing local knowledge of effective management practices.
This innovative work has gone deeper than managing brigalow; it has opened conservation doorways for the species that call it home. Working with TropWATER (James Cook University’s Centre for Tropical Water and Aquatic Ecosystem Research), FBA undertook the first formal DNA sequencing of the endangered Ornamental Snake (Denisonia maculata), enabling future environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring and opening new opportunities for conservation of this brigalow-dependent species.
Supporting First Nations stewardship
FBA is also supporting greater First Nations involvement in brigalow management through skills development, on-ground stewardship and the incorporation of traditional ecological knowledge into activities such as fire management and ecosystem restoration.
By bringing together science, local knowledge and practical land management for a holistic conservation approach, FBA is helping shape a future where brigalow landscapes continue to support people, production and the environment.
FBA is helping to shape a future where brigalow landscapes continue to support people, production and the environment.