Overview of the Dryland Region, its Environment and People
This area of the Goulburn Broken Catchment is referred to as the ‘dryland’ as dryland agriculture is the dominant farming type, as opposed to irrigated agriculture in the Shepparton Irrigation Region.
The dryland covers an area of 1.8 million hectares and contains a wide variety of landscapes: snow-covered mountains, moist montane forests, dry sclerophyll forests, granitic outcrops, gentle sloping plains, Box woodlands and Red Gum floodplains. This diversity of landscapes provides habitat for a great many flora and fauna species.
Thirty-five percent (660,000ha) of native vegetation remains in the Goulburn Broken dryland, existing as large remnant patches on public and private land and smaller, fragmented remnants, for example roadsides, waterways and small patches on private land. There are approximately 40,000 kilometres of waterways and the area supports approximately 40,000 hectares of wetlands.
The dryland supports a diverse range of agriculture including grazing, cropping, mixed farming, horticulture, horse breeding, viticulture as well as niche industries and boutique enterprises such as organic produce and wineries.
The variety of environments, striking landscapes and close proximity to Melbourne make the dryland region of the Goulburn Broken catchment particularly valuable for tourism and recreation and very accessible for many people. Activities range from gourmet food and wine tours, bushwalking, water skiing, snow skiing, rowing, house boats, horse riding, B&B's to four wheel driving, and many more.
More than 78,000 people make their home in the Goulburn Broken dryland. Of these, 31,000 are based in rural areas while the remainder are based in the regional towns of Benalla, Mansfield, Seymour, Euroa, Kilmore, Nagambie, Rushworth, Yarrawonga, Alexandra and Yea. The proximity of the southern border of the catchment to Melbourne attracts significant ‘tree change' and commuter populations and has resulted in increasing demand for lifestyle properties and population increases for many towns.