Demonstrating a Difference – Using Science, Management and Community to Bring Back the Fish

Native fish demonstration reaches were established in the Murray-Darling Basin based on the well-founded premise that native fish recovery is best supported by simultaneously addressing multiple threats to river health. Seven demonstration reaches have been established in the last decade, all receiving source funding to support their implementation. A range of on-ground rehabilitation activities have been undertaken as part of these projects, engaging local communities, building effective partnerships between NRM groups, industries and communities, and showcasing contemporary management techniques. In addition, a scientifically-robust and cost-effective ecological monitoring framework was developed that allowed reach-scale cumulative changes to be assessed, as well as intervention-based monitoring to determine the effectiveness of individual management actions. Despite limited resources, which influenced the effectiveness of some on-ground actions and monitoring, and contributed to varying levels of success, demonstration reaches helped develop a Basin-wide perspective on river rehabilitation that encouraged cross-jurisdictional collaboration in natural resource management. The implementation of demonstration reaches plays an important role in demonstrating the value of rehabilitation actions to the community, ultimately providing a model that fosters a strong sense of stewardship for native fish, generates greater involvement in the rehabilitation of river health, and helps address declines suffered by native fish populations.