FLYING foxes have caused significant damage to orchards in areas such as the Central West and North Coast.
So it was with relief we welcomed the NSW government’s announcement last week that it would extend its netting program to all NSW orchardists whose fruit has been damaged by flying foxes.
When flying foxes move into an area that is not their normal habitat, they inflict a high level of damage, especially to fruit crops.
This damage has been particularly prevalent in the Batlow and Orange regions recently.
For the first time, orchardists from outside the Sydney Basin and Central Coast will be able to invest in orchard netting.
The netting program enables farmers to receive a subsidy for investing in throw-over netting, which will protect more orchards and result in better outcomes for flying fox welfare.
The expansion of the program forms part of the Office of Environment and Heritage’s (OEH) plans to cease the culling of flying foxes across the State.
Areas of a property that are not netted will still be able to hold licences until they cease to be issued.
The OEH will engage with our industry to discuss policy for continued licensed shooting in exceptional circumstances.
Our association was instrumental in the establishment of the netting scheme in 2011 and work from our local members in Orange and Batlow, supported by the NSW Flying Fox Consultative Committee, has seen the extension secured for the remainder of the State.
Our members are grateful Orange MP Andrew Gee has campaigned for the needs of his constituents and are pleased to see Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson and Environment Minister Rob Stokes implement a commonsense approach to the damage caused by flying foxes.
NSW Farmers is the industry representative on the Flying Fox Consultative Committee which has been considering the proposal to extend the Netting Subsidy Program.
The scheme allows anybody in NSW to apply for a subsidy of 50 per cent, up to a maximum of $20,000 per hectare, for throw-over netting and fully secured netting.
