At the end of last year we are lucky to welcome  some new LFW members near Adelaide River- there is some beautiful country in this region and some wonderful people managing their land for wildlife!

Here is one new member’s story, Llyod Beck, who is a fantastic long term Territory fella who cares an awful lot for his country and this wonderful Top End Landscape-

I bought my block 8 years ago and have been actively managing it. It’s 80 acres (25 hectares) and backs onto the Adelaide River, just outside of the Adelaide River township- with Mount Bundey station original homestead on the other side of the River and is mostly intact vegetation.

I love our landscapes and I was born in Darwin and have always lived here. I lived for a long time at Howard Springs and then moved to Adelaide River, to be further out in the bush. I even tried to move away from here (to FNQ), when I felt all the development and growth was getting too much in the Darwin region but nowhere else felt like home. Now I feel it is better to be here trying to make positive change than not and I help out with environmental campaigns where I can. I love being on the land, fishing, exploring and we all need to look after it.

My block had massive Gamba grass issues and many of the blocks around here are still covered in Gamba grass. It was half way up the hillsides and all down to the river. I slashed it and sprayed patches several times in a season, a massive job and after several years of going hard at it last year for the first time no Gamba grass reappeared. When I started managing the Gamba grass fire also stayed off the block and I don’t burn it and other plants are coming back (like fern leaf grevilleas). When you achieve something like that it feels good. Although I don’t pay too much attention to plant and animal names I have counted 74 different bird species here and love the variety of plants.

Sometimes when we think about what we should do for the weekend, we end up relaxing under the trees by the River and realise there is nowhere else better to be.