Biodiversity Strategy - Gosford City Council - NSW Government

Unmanaged cattle grazing can impact on water quality and reduce biodiversity. Over the last
thirty years nomadic herds of wild cattle have grazed in the Mangrove Creek catchment area.
Unmanaged cattle grazing in this area had increased erosion, sedimentation, and simplified the
native plant ecology; severely impacting on the creek edge vegetation (or riparian zone) (refer
to Figure 3.21).
A Cattle Management Plan was developed for Mangrove Creek, from a series of meetings
involving Council, NSW Government land managers and private landholders. The goal is to
increase the health of the riparian zone and adjacent areas of Mangrove Creek catchment by
reducing the wild cattle populations. Healthy creek edge vegetation reduces evaporation,
reduces water temperatures, filters sediments & absorbs nutrients to maintain high quality water
for the community as well as providing food, shelter and corridor for native fauna. Gosford City
Council Water Directorate and local community stakeholders formally implemented the plan in
2002.
The catchment area was surveyed to locate cattle populations, identify breeds and potential
ownership. Strategic areas were fenced, with 500m of bushfire-affected fences repaired to
restrict cattle movement. Wild and trespassing cattle were initially mustered and removed from
the area. Yards and temporary pound have been constructed specifically to trap and hold wild
cattle. Subsequent cattle herds have been trapped and impounded. A total of 160 wild cattle
have been removed from Council managed lands to date.
The reduction in cattle grazing in this area has resulted in the natural regeneration of eighteen
kilometers of Mangrove Creek riparian zone, adjacent wetlands and 10,700 hectares of
bushland. The regeneration of the understorey of the fourteen different vegetation communities
that occur in the catchment increases the overall health of these ecosystems and maintains the
diversity of terrestrial and aquatic habitats within in the Gosford City Councils'Water Supply
catchment areas. Refer to Figures 3.15 - 3.20.
Figures 3.15- 3.20 Upper Mangrove Creek before (left 1977) and after (2006) cattle management
Mangrove Creek Riparian Restoration Project
Biodiversity - Technical Report Page 72