National Deer Management Coordinator

Summary

Feral deer are becoming an increasing problem and have the potential to cause significant impact to public and private land. This project will build on the successful coordinator model already developed through CISS, to implement a position of National Deer Management Coordinator who will support community-led deer control in all states and territories across Australia. In all locations, targeted facilitation will be used to dramatically increase both participation and motivation of neighboring farmers to reduce feral deer impacts.

Farmers will be engaged individually and in groups at tailored events by the National Deer Management Coordinator, in partnership with staff from state government departments, regional land management agencies and farming groups/bureaus. Engagement activities will include a focus on planning feral deer control programs in partnership with farmers, industry and government.

This project ultimately aims to improve participation rates of farmers and land managers in landscape-scale control programs to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of these programs. This position will link with, and complement, the roles of the national feral pig coordinator and the national wild dog coordinator already established.

Status

In progress

Objectives

  • Encourage, empower and facilitate groups of farmers to work together to promote regional scale community-based control of feral deer.
  • Raise awareness of not only the importance of deer management and but also the methods that are available to landholders to control feral deer.
  • Enable the roll out of preliminary findings and products as they become available from existing CISS projects on reducing the impacts of feral deer, and provide visible, practical opportunities for close partnerships between CISS, regional land management agencies, farming groups/bureaus and farmers.
  • Promote use of DeerScan as an on-line community planning and management tool
  • Facilitate stakeholder co-development of a National Feral Deer Action Plan

Project Leader



Dr Annelise Wiebkin
Project Team
  • Dr Annelise Wiebken, SA DPIR
  • Brad Page, SA DP PIR
  • Michelle Dawson, NSW LLS
  • Jennifer Gillis, SA Feral Deer Coordinator, SA DPIR
  • Tim Collins, SE Lanscape Board
  • Matt Gentle, QDAF
  • Quentin Hart, NSW DPI
  • Will De Milano, VIC DEDJTR
  • Matt Pauza, TAS DPIPWE
Project Partners
  • SA Department of Primary Industries and Regions

The project receives funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment

Outputs

February 2021 update:

The Coordinator has built working relationships with several deer management programs in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia, and is linking groups with similar challenges. Through working with these groups, the Coordinator is developing forums, workshops, planning templates and engagement material to meet their common needs.

Deer control groups in Jindabyne, Tweed Shire and around Melbourne have reported that the increased communication between groups is driving a sense of enthusiasm and motivation to effectively manage deer together.