Native grasses initiative for the Mitchell River catchment

Story Robyn May | Photo Cape York NRM

Cape York land managers’ efforts to reduce the loss of valuable top soil, and increase grazing productivity, are being supported by a suite of native grass identification tools.

Native grass identification fact sheets are being developed for the Mitchell River catchment in Cape York in a partnership between Cape York NRM and the Australian Tropical Herbarium, with funding made available by the Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Investment Program 2018-2022.

Land managers situated in this region will benefit from these precise identification tools which will better inform their management of native vegetation and in so doing, reduce soil erosion.

Erich Brown is Cape York NRM’s Land and Water officer working across the joint management area of the Mitchell River Catchment with Cape York NRM and Northern Gulf Resource Management Group.

“Twenty-five native grasses are the subject of this group of fact sheets. They include detailed botanical descriptions, diagnostic features, natural values and more, and are accompanied by photos, identification figures and maps.

“The information also benefits land managers right across Cape York with the maps indicating areas where each species might also be found, based on similarity of habitat to recorded locations”, Erich said.

This project will be the third in a suite of native grass identification tools located on the Cape York NRM website.

To contact Erich about this project, or to discuss other land management issues in the Mitchell River catchment, you can contact him by email on Erich.brown@capeyorknrm.com.au

This project is funded by the Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Investment Program.