At Strangways Springs and Freeling Springs (the site of the Peake Overland Telegraph (OT) ruins) the Arabana Rangers and FOMS volunteers maintained walking trails established by FOMS in 2011. A bench seat was also installed on one of the walks at Strangways in memory of late FOMS helper Bill Giles and new bollards were installed at the Peake OT carpark to manage vehicle movement.
The protection of priority mound springs from disturbance by stock and feral animals has been an important objective and the most recent success story has been the fencing of Levi Springs, on the Peake pastoral lease, by FOMS in 2019 – in consultation with the Arabana Aboriginal Corporation, the Department for Environment and Water, Arid Lands NRM Board and lessees Williams Cattle Company. In the June 2021 working bee, FOMS and the Arabana Rangers applied some finishing touches to the 2.3km of fencing and carried out vegetation monitoring at a number of photo- points established in 2019. The spring vegetation has recovered strongly following stock exclusion.
FOMS and the Arabana Rangers also combined forces to check a number of springs fenced by the State Environment agency in the 1980s on the Peake and Nilpinna pastoral leases. Minor fence maintenance and vegetation monitoring were undertaken. The contrast between protected springs and nearby unprotected spring wetlands is quite marked. The common reed, Phragmites, continues to be dominant in most of the protected springs although there are early signs that this dominance is diminishing after 30 plus years of stock exclusion.
The June 2021 springs working bee is a very good example of a productive collaboration aimed at improved conservation of mound springs – involving a mixture of research, monitoring and on- ground protective works. FOMS has appreciated the ongoing support of the SA Arid Lands Landscape Board and the Department for Environment and Water and it has been a privilege to be closely associated with the Arabana Ranger Program.
