Rangelands Overview - Northern Territory
- The whole of the Northern Territory is defined as rangelands.
- There are 23 bioregions wholly or partly within the NT, although several of these only contain very small areas within the NT.
- The climate ranges from hot dry desert in the south to monsoonal in the north with distinct wet and dry seasons.
- Distinctive landforms include the MacDonnell Ranges in the south, and the Arnhem Plateau in the north east.
- There are five major drainage divisions in the NT: the Lake Eyre Basin in the south east; rivers flowing into the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north east; rivers flowing into the Timor and Arafura Seas in the north and north west; major river system draining north in the Bonaparte Gulf; and the western plateau in the centre and south west.
- Land tenure includes pastoral leasehold, conservation areas and significant areas of Aborignal land. Organisations with a role in land administration include the Department of Lands, Planning and Environment, the Northern Land Council and the Central Land Council.
- World heritage areas include Kakadu and Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Parks.
- Vegetation ranges from tussock grasslands, shrublands and low open woodlands in the south to tall woodland with patches of monsoon rainforest in the north.
- Pastoralism is the major land use throughout much of the NT with beef cattle being the main enterprise. Aboriginal land use and conservation areas are also significant. Some intensive horticulture occurs particularly in the north in the regions around Darwin and Katherine.
- Mining is an important to the NT economy including bauxite at Gove, uranium around Jabiru, gold in the Pine Creek bioregion and lead and zinc at McArthur River.
- While there are only 5 major population centres in the NT (Darwin,Katherine, Tennant reek, Alice Springs, Nhulunbuy) there are large numbers of aboriginal communities throughout the NT.
Administration Arrangements
The NT Government has 3 agencies with responsibility for natural resource management:
- Department of Planning and Infrastructure (DLPE): The key role of DPI is to plan and manage land and water use in the NT to support development of the economy without placing the environment heritage and lifestyle at risk. It plays a major role in the assessment management and monitoring of the natural resources of the NT. It has responsibility for strategic planning in relation to land use generally and also for developing and implementing overall environmental policies. This department oversees the use of pastoral lands through the Pastoral Land Act, including assessment of applications for clearing and land use intensification. DPI is responsible for setting land use standards within broad land use objectives and giving effect to these LUOs through some form of Planning Scheme. DPI also administers the other NRM legislation such as the Soil Conservation and Land Utilisation Act and the Water Act
- Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts (NRETA) has responsibility for protection and management of parks and reserves and for protection of wildlife. This responsibility includes an extensive research and development program, and the development and implementation of an active program of community education and communication about natural resource conservation. NRETA is also responsible for the development and support of a number of agreements between itself and landholders or managers for joint management of lands in relation to biodiversity conservation.
- Department of Primary Industry & Fisheries: (DPIF) is responsible for the provision of technical and economic support services to pastoral, agricultural, horticultural and fisheries industriesPIF provides a range of services to pastoralists and agricultural operators including support for whole farm planning (PMP) and general advice on integrated resource management including the management of fire, feral animals, weeds and grazing pressure
Further Information
Link to photographic sequences
Link to the Map Maker to make a map using this information.
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