Introducing the TSR network

Stretching across 3 million ha in NSW and Queensland, forming a continental connection across Eastern Australia, the Travelling Stock Routes and Reserves (TSR) network holds some of the best remaining wildlife corridors in Australia. 

Travelling stock routes and Reserves (TSRs) are a network of public land that forms a unique connection across the Australian landscape. Photo: Cecile van der Burgh

TSRs are easy to identify - especially in the heavily cleared and modified agricultural landscapes west of the Great Divide. They are long, vegetated corridors, often along road sides. They represent some of the last and best remnants of native vegetation left on the flat and fertile soils.

Although stock routes have been established in all of the states of mainland Australia, the network is most extensive in NSW and Queensland.

Taking a WildCountry “big picture” approach to conservation, The Wilderness Society, together with our partners, is working for the long-term vision, protection and management for the network.

Wildlife corridors

Many of the routes and reserves still retain their original vegetation and carefully managed intermittent grazing has left large parts of the network in relatively healthy condition, unlike much of the surrounding land that has been cleared, cropped or continuously grazed. The vegetation and waterways of the network provide invaluable habitat for some of Australian most threatened animals and plants and is a critically important travel path for migratory birds.

Stretching across a vast range of climates and soil types, TSRs provide a comprehensive sample of our native plants and animals and an important refuge for endangered species that are disappearing rapidly from many agricultural areas. The unique connectivity of the network that joins up with other vegetated crown lands allows wildlife to move across the landscape.

Climate change poses major challenges for the survival of our animals and plants. One way that species may be able to adapt is by shifting the location of populations to more suitable climatic zones. This can only occur where landscapes are connected. The TSR network provides some of the vital ‘green infrastructure’ needed for our wildlife to adapt to climate change.

The native vegetation of the TSR network also captures carbon and provides an important seed bank for native plants. Being on public land, the stock routes network provides an ideal backbone for environmental revegetation and restoration programs, right across the landscape. Stock routes and reserves keep the Australian countryside healthy.

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Map of Travelling Stock Routes in NSW

Map of Travelling Stock Routes in Qld