News and Events

Extreme low flows are pushing refuge pools to their limits. Heat, sediment, salinity and stock impacts are degrading water quality and threatening native fish. This article outlines what’s causing it and practical steps we can take to protect our waterways.

Courtesy of the Refreshing Upper Billabong project, we have a limited number of tubestock suitable for planting both instream and along creek banks to reduce erosion and create habitat.

We lacked information on the aquatic wildlife of the Upper Billabong catchment, so using Citizen Science - the Refreshing Rivers iNaturalist project and eDNA tests, we have gathered 1,672 observations across the catchment and also completed 9 eDNA profiles in local waterways.

On Saturday the 21st of March, the inaugural Carpathon was held at The Cape in Jerilderie. The sun was shining, the grass was green from the recent rain, and 73 people registered for the event! It was a day full unlucky carp, prize winners, a delicious BBQ and many happy faces.

David Bray and Louise Freckleton are stewards of Highfield Farm and Woodland, a 335 Ha property near Adelong in the eastern Riverina. Highfield blends conservation of critically endangered Box‑gum grassy woodland with a small‑scale paddock‑to‑plate enterprise and a thriving ecotourism operation.

As 2025 comes to a close, we’re proud to share some amazing achievements in the Riverina Highlands target area:

Join our staff these school holidays for a hands-on workshop where kids become wildlife heroes!

Join Riverina Local Land Services and Landcare for a hands-on workshop and explore the intriguing world of tree hollows and their importance to wildlife.

We have some fantastic events coming up for the Upper Billabong Refreshing Rivers BioBlitz! These are all free events and everyone is welcome!

In this hands-on workshop, aimed at the mature age group, you will learn how to record nature observations and contribute to an international biodiversity data base. Each participant will also receive free plants and resources to improve nature in their own back yard.

Local ecologist, Dan Hutton, had students looking at life up close with the prolific Australian glass shrimp. These Species provide a vital food source for our native fish. Eastern long necked turtled joined the show, learning how to differentiate male from female by looking at the underbelly.

The latest carp electrofishing and removal event on April 17, 2025, has once again shown the success of the ROAR case study project in reducing invasive fish populations in Billabong Creek, Conargo, as part of the wider Refreshing Rivers Program.

On March 27th, 2025, Boys to the Bush teamed up with Murrumbidgee Landcare’s Jessie McPherson and YACTAC’s Andrea Mitchell for a fun and hands-on citizen science event at the top of Yanco Creek, near Euroley.

In early April, the Billabong Creek at Conargo came alive with community-led restoration efforts as part of the Refreshing Rivers program. YACTAC, Jeithi Jerilderie Aboriginal Group and Yarkuwa, joined by local groups and schools, released over 1,000 native eel-tailed catfish

Through the efforts of YACTAC, Yarkuwa, the Refreshing Rivers program, and Kolety-Werkul Rangers, native plants are now taking root in and around the waterway, blending cultural knowledge, local collaboration, and environmental care to create a healthier, more vibrant creek for future generations

Extreme low flows are pushing refuge pools to their limits. Heat, sediment, salinity and stock impacts are degrading water quality and threatening native fish. This article outlines what’s causing it and practical steps we can take to protect our waterways.

Courtesy of the Refreshing Upper Billabong project, we have a limited number of tubestock suitable for planting both instream and along creek banks to reduce erosion and create habitat.

We lacked information on the aquatic wildlife of the Upper Billabong catchment, so using Citizen Science - the Refreshing Rivers iNaturalist project and eDNA tests, we have gathered 1,672 observations across the catchment and also completed 9 eDNA profiles in local waterways.

Let's get our hands dirty and prepare wetland plants onto growth mats! We do this to prepare them to be replanted into rivers and streams, to improve the health of our waterways.

We're hosting an introduction session to virtual fencing technology! Come and learn about virtual fencing, the pros and cons of the technology, and hear from one of the technology providers, Halter and a farmer in the early stages of adoption.

During the January school holidays, our next generation of citizen scientists came together at the Landcare Nursery in Tumut for a hands-on workshop all about the importance of hollows for native wildlife.

As 2025 comes to a close, we’re proud to share some amazing achievements in the Riverina Highlands target area:

Join our staff these school holidays for a hands-on workshop where kids become wildlife heroes!

Join Riverina Local Land Services and Landcare for a hands-on workshop and explore the intriguing world of tree hollows and their importance to wildlife.

In this hands-on workshop, aimed at the mature age group, you will learn how to record nature observations and contribute to an international biodiversity data base. Each participant will also receive free plants and resources to improve nature in their own back yard.