Around 200,000 feral buffalo now inhabit the Northern Territory’s wetlands and floodplains. Once home to an abundant and diverse ecosystem of native plants, fish, birds and wildlife, these floodplains are being devastated as feral buffalo trample native vegetation, cause soil erosion and compaction, and spread invasive weeds such as mimosa. Freshwater floodplains salinity is increasing, paperbark forests and magpie geese nests are being destroyed and iconic river systems are being impacted.
The mustering of buffalo in Arnhem Land provides a win-win solution to the sustainable environmental management of the Northern Territory’s vital floodplains, reducing the environmental damage to wetlands as well as creating an income stream for local communities, and providing a quality protein offering to international markets.
As global conversations around food security continue to challenge world leaders, ACE has taken up the challenge by providing a solution that not only delivers a quality, affordable source of protein to the world, but also enables a far more sustainable option for feral buffalo management across northern Australia.