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The
Northern Flinders Ranges and adjoining desert areas are part
of
the real Outback of Australia. Leigh
Creek and the Northern Flinders Ranges have some of the most
diverse
environments
and sceneries of Outback Australia. Whilst many travellers are in a
rush to go to got further away and only stop for fuel and food, a short
trip to the Aroona
Sanctuary provides visitors with an opportunity to see a
very unique and beautiful place.
The
Aroona Sanctuary is one of
the best examples in Australia in
environmental rehabilitation in Australia. By 1985, the lands of the
Aroona Sanctuary were badly degraded. Massive numbers of rabbits and
feral goats depleted the native vegetation. The vegetation loss had
lead to
extensive sheet and gully erosion. Widespread soil erosion also caused
rapid silting of Aroona Dam. A large scale environmental rehabilitation
project was started in late 1985 under the guidance of Beat Odermatt,
the local Environmental Scientist, . Rehabilitation was done by
destroying
rabbits and feral goats and by
undertaking erosion control works, such as disk pitting and the
construction of water velocity reducers. The removal of rabbits and
feral goats helped the native vegetation to return. Over 1 Million of
trees and shrubs emerged in the degraded area and silting of waterways
and Aroona Dam became drastically reduced.
In
1995, the Government of South Australia declared
the area around Aroona Dam a Flora and Fauna Sanctuary. Within
less than 10 years, a extremely badly degraded area had recovered to an
situation where it could again support a diverse range of native plants
and wildlife. The Aroona Dam area rehabilitation programme became
an proof that our native lands are not fragile, but incredible
resilient. The programme provided proof that many of our degraded lands
can be rehabilitated by removing threats and competition to
native fauna and flora.
In
the meantime, a successful captive breeding programme of
Yellow-footed Rock-wallabies at Monarto Zoological Park in South
Australia had become too successful . The Royal Zoological
Society of South Australia and scientists from the SA
Department of Environment and Heritage were looking for a suitable site
for the world's first free release of
captive Yellow-footed
Rock-wallabies. The Aroona Dam Sanctuary was chosen as the best
site. A control
programme was
initiated to control potential predators such as
feral cats and feral
foxes.
In 1996, a
small
number of captive bred Yellow-footed Rock-wallabies
was released in the Aroona Sanctuary. The released animals were closely
monitored with the help of radio collars and keen volunteers and
scientists . Monitoring was undertaken with the help of a large range
of people, such as local school
students, mine workers and scientists from other many Zoo's
around Australia and the
USA.
Various stages of
the Aroona Dam Sanctuary project became widely recognized. The
project was awarded a total
3 SA State Landcare Awards and an Mining Industry Award for
Environmental Excellency. The project had become
maybe on of Australia s most
successful and mostly awarded
environmental rehabilitation project. The Aroona Bio-Diversity
Project
was also supported by Landcare National Heritage grants from the
Commonwealth Government and by active support from adjoining
landholders.
The free released Yellow-footed
Rock-wallabies have increased in numbers since 1995 and a new National Heritage Track makes it possible
for visitors to visit the site and enjoy the natural assets of the area. It may be even possible for some lucky people
to see some of these beautiful rare animals.
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