The 110,000ha of grazing land in the Walcha region of northern New South Wales is home to 44km of exclusion fencing thanks to $986,800 of Federal Government funding secured by the Walcha Council.

The fence aims to protect land owned by 150 landholders from wild dog attacks and aid with on-farm biodiversity.

The fence project was started in July 2020 using local contractors, injecting vital funds to help the region's recovery from drought and fire. Project management was provided in-kind by Australian Wool Innovation (AWI), Local Land Services, NSW Department of Primary Industries, National Parks and Wildlife and landowners.

AWI's north-east NSW wild dog control coordinator, Dave Worsley, who led the project's scoping and stakeholder consultation activities, said the exclusion fence will give more landholders the opportunity to run sheep.

"Wild dog activity had been constant and the fence's completion will be a relief for landholders dealing with the psychological and financial stress of wild dogs," he said.

"A well-maintained fence is a powerful tool in the wild dog control tool kit, although it's important that landholders continue with their baiting and trapping as well as undertake maintenance of the fence.

"The new fence gives us the ability to target wild dogs tracking along the fence-line so we can be much more strategic in our control."

Worsley said the whole regional community would benefit from the flow on effects of the new fence, with an expected $5 return for every $1 invested in the fence.

National Wild Dog Management coordinator, Greg Mifsud, said the fence complements an existing 67km of non-continuous exclusion fencing on property boundaries affected by the 2020-21 bushfires.

"This provides a total of 111km of exclusion fencing along the escarpment, protecting sheep grazing properties from wild dogs that consistently disperse from the extensive public lands from the coast to the escarpment," he said.

For more information, visit www.wool.com/exclusionfencing