PRESS RELEASE
15th December 2008
A MEDAL FOR THE GENOA RIVER WILDERNESS
A pioneering rural project, the Nungatta Station Land Management Project, central to the local
ecology of the pristine Genoa River wilderness, has won the 2008 NSW Medal in Landscape
Architecture. The Genoa River travels from South Eastern NSW through to Victoria, a fantastically
remote location for a project of this kind.
The project is based at Nungatta Station, between Bombala and Eden, NSW on the Victorian border
– original home of the Bidawal indigenous people.
Nungatta’s non-agricultural natural resources are extraordinary, containing significant endangered
plant communities and fauna and a geographically unique space surrounded by National Park. The
property is upstream from one of the most untouched National Park networks in SE Australia. Yet
none of these qualities had been considered as important by the owner whose principal aim was to
maximize cattle production.
The Nungatta Land Management Project won the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, NSW,
Medal as the best project in NSW over four categories (Design, Land Management, Land Planning
and Research & Communication) as an exemplary example of landscape architects working in
natural resource management. This award in past years has been given to a high profile design
project such as the 2007 Medal winner, the Glebe Foreshore Walk. Material Landscape Architecture
winning this award gives recognition to the new directions landscape architects now undertake as
part of a more ecologically sensitive environment.
Material Landscape Architecture was presented in 2004 with a 5,500 ha site. “Fifty percent of the site
was infested with blackberry, a Weed of National Significance”, said Principal Jim Osborne, “grazing
land was under threat from woody regrowth; pasture area had diminished from 3,685 ha in the 1970’s
to 2,300 ha in 1998 and it was projected to further diminish to 1,500 ha by 2015 if left unchecked”.
The farmers pride in the land had significantly diminished and there were no funds available to pay
rectify the problems. Through investigation, additional issues were identified:
At least 400 ha of Endangered Ecological Communities exist and were under threat
from grazing
24 threatened fauna species had been recorded on the site, 3 are classified as
endangered on a State and National level
Significant soil erosion existed throughout the site
Material identified that the process to tackling such huge problems over a very large area was to
restore the site and, through the management techniques enhance the site. This was achieved by
separating out (3) projects:
land restoration,
ecological enhancement
weed management
“Material’s approach to each of these projects was to collaborate, map, strategize, implement and
review. Through this process, we developed techniques that were proofed, evolved and then applied
to a master plan that will be implemented over the next 10 years”, comments Miki Mitsuta, a
Japanese Landscape Architect working with Material in Surry Hills, Sydney, “The principal steps,
restore and enhance, were quickly identified as the beginning of a much longer process which would
eventually see the introduction of other non-agricultural land-uses such as ecotourism”.
Although these (3) projects were undertaken separately, the activities were co-dependant and
interrelated and often over the same area; the involvement of a landscape architect allowed for an
understanding of their connectivity and, as a result, was fundamental in allowing government decision
makers to see the projects in a very positive light and thus make available various different funding
grants.
Material’s approach to the project was to seek a highly functional outcome that respected the
landowners desire to continue grazing on ecologically sensitive land while developing strategies to
ensure that cattle production did not compromise the ecological resource.
The incorporation and collaboration of many resource management agencies in the project allowed
for the landscape architect to contemplate and assess multiple opinions and create excellence
beyond the original brief. In addition, a benchmark was created for future projects with similar
environmental and cultural issues.
The landowner and Jim’s father, Pat Osborne, was relatively unaware of the ecological value of the
land and treated the native vegetation with scant regard; for 60 years he had been unsuccessfully
seeking ways to eliminate the woody vegetation and establish exotic pasture. A fundamental to the
projects success was to engage with the landowner and allow him to develop an appreciation of the
major ethos change that was required, extending the brief considerably beyond the original bounds of
beef.
“We recognized that capacity building was reliant on finding and engaging with the right experts,
work-shopping their skills with other experts and adapting/implementing their knowledge”, says
Osborne, “Given the ecological value of the site, highly skilled scientists, practitioners and extension
agencies from all levels of government and NGOs were very keen to be involved and their
engagement ensured the practices adopted were not only highly functional but also sustainable and
treated the land and the downstream resource with utmost respect”.
The landscape architect’s role in agricultural natural resource management is not common, especially
in regard to this type of decision making. Material effectively demonstrated the relevance and success
of having a landscape architect involved in the project by adopting stewardship principles, using a
contemplative structure and applying master planning techniques such as overview and analysis.
Material generated a holistic approach and allowed multiple practitioners to collaborate, successfully
establishing management techniques for a very large, important, problematic landscape.
Project Fundamentals
Material developed a master plan that has seen implementation of 600 ha of eucalyptus plantation,
control of 2,200 ha of weeds and the protection of 118 ha of Endangered Ecological Communities.
Dynamic capacity building is a fundamental to the projects success, the collaborating allowed for an
approach that was beyond the agricultural realm, recognizing the value of the property was not based
on its cattle carrying capacity.
BUDGET:
$ 1 million
COLLABORATIONS:
National Parks and Wildlife Service, Bombala,
Franz Peters and Rachel Butterworth
Bega Valley Shire Council
Native Vegetation Recovery Officer, Jock Waugh
Weeds Inspector, Greg Madden
South East Fibre Exports Pty Ltd, Eden NSW
Deane Goodyer, Garry Hunter
(953 words)
FURTHER DETAILS
Press kits available on request
Photographs and landscape architectural plans available for distribution.
Media are invited to visit the site - a short flight to Merimbula on Rex
The property is extremely remote and will require a chaperone/driver.
Accomodation is available for visiting media teams (to be formally scheduled).
Owners and project designers plus local collaborators will be available to tour the site.
Please contact Jim Osborne, Principal Landscape Architect on (0407) 672-676 with your questions.
Designer Miki Mitsuta is available to speak about the project in both Japanese and English.
Jim Osborne
Principal
jim@material.com.au
MATERIAL LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
94 Cooper Street
Surry Hills NSW 2010
(02) 9212-3840
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