Peter, a farmer from the Fleurieu Peninsula, got involved in the program 10-15 years ago.

Since then, around 5 or 6 kilometres of Swamp have been fenced off on his property and a whole new watering system has been installed to help keep the stock out of the Swamps.

Peter says “In my experience over the last 30/40 years the Swamps are slowly getting bigger, they’re expanding out and getting wetter.”

For him, the best part of the program has been being able to fence off the swamps to try to manage them a little better, separately from the rest of his farm and also maintaining the swamps.

Peter says that although the MLR Southern Emu-wrens are a focus of the program there is other biodiversity in the swamps that they are trying to maintain and protect.

“A healthy swamp does provide better water going into the local streams and creeks,” he says.

Peter says, “At the end of the day as a landowner, our philosophy is we try leave our farm in a better condition than when we first started using it.”

Although he won’t admit it Peter plays an important role in swamp conservation as the chair of the recovery team, as well providing feedback about swamps from the perspective of landholders.