Chapter 4. Case studies - Department of Land Resource ...

4.2 Case Study 2Malak Malak Land Trust, NTFor Malak Malak people,their country has a spiritual significancewhich ties them to its past and future. It isalso a place for hunting and gathering bushtucker including wallabies, goanna, fish andturtles. The invasion of Mimosa pigra at theDaly River floodplains threatens the habitatof wetland species and prevents access toimportant hunting and fishing areas.Malak Malak Land Trust lies in the Daly RiverRegion, 220km south of Darwin, just west ofLitchfield National Park.Albert Myoung is Senior Ranger and elder of theMalak Malak. He has been managing mimosaon country since he discovered a small infestationin the mid1990s which quickly grew into a largethicket.Albert’s mimosa story began when a visitingWeeds Officer, came to Malak Malak country tofind out whether mimosa had infested the region.“The officer showed me a picture, and he said,‘have you seen this?’ and I recognised it from thephoto, I said ‘yeah I’ve seen some, never seen thembefore.’” Albert describes how Weeds Officersshowed him how to cut and paste mimosa as wellas to use a knapsack and hand gun to spray. Albertinitially tried controlling mimosa by concentratingon the largest infestation at Parngala, an importanthunting ground, but it was hard work doing it allby hand. The weed continued to spread to otherareas, making it practically impossible to controleffectively from the ground with only a small teamof rangers.Albert noticed the drastic impact mimosa had onthe land within just a few years. “Parngala usedto be good hunting for wallaby, turtle, goannaand magpie goose. Mimosa is a no-good weedfor this country.” He describes how pest control isimportant in controlling mimosa.“Buffalo, horses and pigs – they make it worse!We’d like to get rid of the buffalo, but it’s toomuch for us, too dangerous. Pigs are alright – weeat pigs for tucker.”Malak Malak is surrounded by the pastoralproperties of Tipperary, Elizabeth Downs andLitchfield Station. It also includes some freeholdblocks of land used for mango crops or small-scaletourism operations which cater for visitors whocome to the Daly River to fish. Avid recreationalfishers travel across the country every April to takepart in the annual Barra Nationals.Albert by the banks of the Daly River44 MIMOSA BEST PRACTICE MANAGEMENT MANUAL