Hunter region local annual achievement report

Chair foreword

On behalf of the Hunter Local Land Services (LLS) local board and staff, I am pleased to present our 2024 Local Annual Achievement Report. 

Hunter LLS remains the boots on the ground, available for advice and support as we enable communities to respect, protect and sustain healthy, productive and profitable landscapes. 

Through major initiatives, including the NSW Feral Pig and Pest Program, our Biosecurity officers have helped build the capacity of landholders to undertake effective control of pests such as feral pigs, foxes and wild dogs to boost agricultural production and improve biodiversity. 

Our District Vets continue to play a critical role to increase awareness of biosecurity risks and undertake disease and animal health investigations. 

To reclaim and restore the ancient practice of Cultural Burning to care for Country, Hunter LLS has championed learning with local First Nations people and communities through our successful partnerships with Local Aboriginal Land Councils. 

We also celebrated 10 years of LLS at the start of 2024. Our local board and team look forward to continuing to deliver high quality services as we work with our landholders to address the challenges and opportunities of primary production and land management in the region

Allison Mudford
Chair, Hunter local board

Endangered Black-necked Stork

This groundbreaking project has installed a nest platform for the endangered Black-necked Stork in Hexham Swamp. A partnership between Hunter Local Land Services (LLS) and Hunter Bird Observers Club (HBOC), this project aims to provide a home for the pair of storks that have been residing in Hexham Swamp since 2018. It’s a significant outcome by the Hexham Swamp Rehabilitation Project, funded through Hunter Catchment Contributions. 

The Black-necked Stork is known to breed as solitary pairs in often difficult-to-access places, making detailed breeding studies a challenge. The Hunter is regarded as the southern limit of its breeding range. 

The large birds build a nest that is up to 2 metres wide and one metre deep and there is a lack of suitable nest trees in the swamp to support this size. 

After a storm destroyed a nest 2 years ago, killing a chick, the team drew on the expertise of HBOC members and a Newcastle-based industrial designer to create a durable aluminium platform secured to a tripod. This innovative ‘constructed nest’ will support the storks’ ability to successfully breed. 

The project is the first of its kind for Black-necked Stork in Australia, contributing to the knowledge of this endangered species and marks a major milestone in stork conservation. Hunter LLS and HBOC are looking forward to further successful breeding seasons in Hexham Swamp as a result of the partnership

Achievements

• 2,120,306 ha of vertebrate pest control
• 29% of staff trained for an emergency response role
• 431 animal disease surveillance investigations
• 4,118 1:1 advice consultations
• 25,320 participants at awareness raising/capacity building events
• 635 ha of river/estuary enhanced, rehabilitated or protected
• 15 emergency management prepatory exercises
• 3,307 ha travelling stock reserves actively managed
• 12,670 ha of land managed for improved soil condition
• 23 ha of land covered by Land Management certificates.