NATURAL OUTBACK
Trading off at Wamberra Station
A novel land scheme pioneered by frustrated farmers in south-western NSW is turning Mallee country into conservation reserves.
Story Sue Neales photos Bruce Postle
Ned Byrnes can laugh about it now, but the fifth-generation NSW cattle farmer admits he wasn't exactly enamoured with the idea of private land conservation more than a decade ago. "I certainly wasn't a greenie," says the quietly-spoken owner of Wamberra Station, 40 kilometres north of Mildura on the road to Mungo National Park. "The first time I was asked if I would be interested in locking up some of my farm as nature reserves for good, I just laughed and said, 'that's not why I own this place.' But then I began to see the merit in the idea…."
The concept Ned first mulled over in the late 1980s with neighbours John and
Gary Doyle has grown into a unique land trade-off deal introduced on 18 Southern
Mallee farms, including Wamberra Station, over the past three years. It is
now being closely studied as a successful model for land-sharing and land use
management by other farming and green groups across Australia.
Full story Issue 30 Aug/Sept 2003
