A GRANT to curb the impact of feral pigs on threatened wildlife and ecosystems in the Kimberley has been secured by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and its partners, Wilinggin Aboriginal Corporation and Dambimangari Aboriginal Corporation.
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The State Natural Resource Management (NRM) program grant from the State government will provide up to $265,000 over a three-year period as part of the government's program to protect wildlife on Dambimangari Country and Wilinggin Country.
A smaller component of the grant will be used at Australian Wildlife Conservancy's Charnley Sanctuary.
The funds will be used to deal with environmental pests across 400,000 hectares of land, with a particular focus on feral pigs, which pose a growing threat in WA's north-west.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy chief executive Tim Allard said the funds would improve conservation of the Kimberley's wildlife.
"This grant is great news for the Kimberley's unique plants and animals - 30 of which can only be found in the Kimberley," Mr Allard said.
The grant will also assist ecologists in preventing weed species from gaining a foothold across the region and damaging terrestrial and aquatic habitats.
Feral pigs affect threatened mammals, birds and reptiles, causing major habitat degradation through their destructive feeding behaviour, as well as damaging culturally important sites through soil disturbance.
Damage from the long-term presence of feral pigs is visible in the soil disturbance across the Kimberley's lowland savannas and riparian zones.
Dambimangari cultural ranger Pete O'Connor said action needs to be taken now to stop the damage over wide areas of their country before they lose their springs which so many of their native species rely upon.
"Why do we allow these ferals to continue to destroy our sacred water sites?" Mr O'Connor said.
"This is just one more thing that our threatened species have to put up with - threat after threat, after threat.
"How many threats will be one too many and we start to see extinctions here in the Kimberley - the last bastion of hope for many precious plants and animals?
"We just can't allow the threats to continue without trying to do something about them."
The 2.85 million hectares of land covered by the grant is managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (Charley River-Artesian Range), or in collaborative partnerships with the Wilinggin and Dambimangari Aboriginal corporations.
Charnley River-Artesian Range Wildlife Sanctuary alone is home to more than 387 plants and 360 animal species.
Among them are the elusive Wyulda (or Scaly-tailed possum) and endangered mammals like the Golden-backed Tree-rat and Golden Bandicoot - species which have disappeared from large parts of their historical range in northern Australia but persist in the north-west Kimberley.
Dambimangari ranger co-ordinator Josh Vartto said whilst Dambimangari has relatively low feral animal numbers compared to the rest of the country, feral pigs were present and numbers were growing.
"It is quite evident the damage they are doing to the sensitive ecosystems that occur throughout Dambimangari country, from fouling and erosion of riparian areas, to the heavy grazing and compaction of soil within the already susceptible rainforest pockets," Mr Vartto said.
"Swift action now to control feral pig numbers is just one step at retaining the wild beauty of Dambimangari country."
