Managing Cattle Grazing on Norfolk Island

Published on 21 February 2025

MANAGING CATTLE GRAZING ON NORFOLK ISLAND TO ENHANCE WATER QUALITY – AGRONOMIST VISIT

A project funded through the Australian Government’s Our Marine Parks Grants program is underway, with the goal of enhancing the quality of run off and groundwater entering the Norfolk Marine Park.

The project is considering livestock-related impacts on sensitive areas including waterways, wetlands, and erosion-prone areas, while seeking to maintain the number of cattle on the island as well as improving livestock health and productivity.

Norfolk Island Regional Council (NIRC), the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (DITRDCA), and the Norfolk Island National Park are collaborating through a joint project working group to identify priority areas for protection from cattle grazing impacts. The project also aims to identify areas on public land that could potentially be grazed

Agronomists will be visiting Norfolk Island from Tuesday 25 to Thursday 27 February to meet with land managers and Norfolk Island Cattle Association (NICA), and to revisit areas of public land that are currently grazed, as well as less sensitive areas that are not currently grazed but potentially could be.

The agronomists will be working with the project partners to explore approaches to improve weed management, pasture quality, soil chemistry, and grazing management with the view to potentially increase carrying capacity and overall productivity. These activities will help inform the development of a Norfolk Island Public Land Grazing Management Strategy.

The Norfolk Island Public Land Grazing Management Strategy will explore sustainable ways to increase productivity and manage grazing in areas away from watercourses, wetlands, and steep areas where cattle grazing does not impact water quality. The agronomists will also recommend additional actions that cattle owners can take to improve the health and productivity of roadside cattle.

Through improved grazing management practices, the project aims to improve water quality in waterways that flow into the Norfolk Marine Park, including Watermill and Town Creek. These creeks run through the KAVHA catchment and directly into the Emily and Slaughter Bay Lagoon reef system at the Emily Bay outlet, with poor water quality in these two creeks recognised as a major threat to the health of Emily and Slaughter Bay reef.

The Our Marine Parks Grant Program is investing in the long-term health of Australia’s Marine Parks – with Council’s cattle grazing project helping to reduce the impacts of livestock on waterways, wetlands, and erosion-prone areas, while supporting livestock health and productivity.

For more information about this project please contact Customer Care on 22001 or local freecall 0100 or email customercare@nirc.gov.nf .