Bush Heritage News

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Bush Heritage News Bush Heritage News www.bushheritage.org.au Winter 2007 In this issue Reconnecting habitats, Revegetation in WA, Map of Bush Heritage reserves, Restoration of Carnarvon grasslands, Scottsdale Reserve launch Reconnecting native habitats – putting the jigsaw puzzle back together Bush Heritage CEO Doug Humann teeming with life. Across the red centre they have been drained, and rivers have and Beyond the Boundaries you would have seen rolling sand dunes been choked by dams and excessive Coordinator Stuart Cowell have laced with the tracks of myriad small, water extraction. busy animals, and arid shrublands and contributed to this article Now 70 per cent of the pieces of this rocky plains carved by ancient rivers. magnificent jigsaw are either missing Can you imagine Australia as a giant Golden grasslands and woodlands or damaged. In the worst affected jigsaw puzzle made up of millions brimming with wildlife would have regions, just a scattering of small isolated of pieces? Two hundred years ago, if spanned the eastern side of the continent pieces remain. A look at the map of the you had been looking down at the puzzle from north to south. Gondwana Link region (see Page 2) from above, the picture would have illustrates the point graphically. been quite spectacular. You would have Over the past two hundred years we have seen majestic forests fringing the edges effectively been taking the pieces out Putting key pieces back into this jigsaw with green and great rivers spilling into of this great landscape puzzle. Habitats is now a priority if we are to avert the the sea. In the far north, deeply etched have disappeared piece by piece and massive extinction of species that is escarpments would have plunged with them the animals and plants they predicted to occur as the effects of down into vast woodlands and wetlands supported. Wetlands have vanished as climate change intensify. Clockwise from top: Scottsdale Reserve, another piece of the jigsaw puzzle restored. PHOTO: JIRI LOCHMAN/ LOCHMAN TRANSPARENCIES Yellow daisies at Chereninup Creek Reserve, WA. PHOTO: BARBARA MADDEN Hooded robin, a key species at Nardoo Hills reserves, Vic. PHOTO: GRAEME CHAPMAN Native hibiscus Alyogyne huegelii at Chereninup Creek Reserve, WA. PHOTO: BARBARA MADDEN Winter 2007 1 restoration program, Kosciuszko to Coast. This will become a partnership of massive proportions as we work with hundreds of individual land-owners and local and regional authorities to reconnect habitats from the Australian Alps to the east coast, a distance of over 100 kilometres. Gondwana Link in Western Australia is the most advanced of the Beyond the Boundaries programs. Several of the property acquisitions here have also received support from the Australian Government’s National Reserve System Gondwana Link region Programme. Our key partners are Greening Australia (WA), The Wilderness Society, The Nature Conservancy, Friends of the Fitzgerald River National Park and the Fitzgerald Biosphere Group. Progress is steady and we are already It has been estimated that the effect extend through different altitudes and seeing real benefits for many species on a habitat of every one-degree rise in across latitudes is vital. (see Pages 4 to 5). temperature caused by global warming will be equivalent to its having moved Beyond the Boundaries New reserve in Western Australia 100 kilometres north. With less rainfall The Bush Heritage Beyond the The most recent piece to go back into and more frequent and intense fires Boundaries program is working on the Gondwana Link part of our puzzle is predicted for much of the south of the many fronts to do just that. This is a Peniup Creek Reserve. Bush Heritage continent, and an increased risk of program of partnerships and of building supporters who responded so generously intense cyclones and extreme rainfall up and working on regional conservation to the Thomas Challenge (Bush Heritage over the north, animals and plants will be strategies with other groups, agencies News, Autumn 2007) have made a major forced to move to find new habitats and and individuals to achieve what none contribution to the protection of this vital the food and shelter that they need. of us could alone. The Australian property. It has been purchased jointly Government’s very successful National with Greening Australia (WA). Many animals, trapped in habitat ‘islands’ Reserve System Programme will surrounded by seas of cleared land, will probably play a part by assisting with the Peniup Creek Reserve covers 2409 have nowhere to go. Both regional and acquisition of key properties, as it has hectares and protects the largest area national extinction rates are set to soar. with the recent purchase of Scottsdale of intact bushland (890 hectares) that Reserve south of Canberra (see Bush remains at the eastern end of the Stirling Rebuilding the connections between Heritage News, Summer 2007). Range to Fitzgerald River section of these islands of habitat is probably the Gondwana Link. It now safeguards intact most important action we can take, and The acquistion of Scottsdale Reserve woodland, mallee-heath and stream-side ensuring that these habitat pathways is the start of another major landscape vegetation and a section of Peniup Creek From left: Grey kangaroo at Nardoo Hills Reserve, Vic. PHOTO: JAMES COWIE Flowering heathland, Monjebup Reserve, WA. PHOTO: JIRI LOCHMAN/LOCHMAN TRANSPARENCIES Brown treecreeper. 2 Bush Heritage News PHOTO: GRAEME CHAPMAN that is in excellent condition. This new Kosciuszko to Coast has the Nardoo Hills reserves reserve establishes a direct connection support of the New South Wales with Peniup Nature Reserve. Government, which used the launch of Scottsdale Reserve to announce Significantly, at least five key species a bigger plan, Alps to Atherton. or communities targeted for special This ambitious project aims to attention in the Gondwana Link create a wildlife corridor over a Functional Landscape Plan occur here. distance of 2800 kilometres to These include yate and mallet/moort allow species to move in response woodlands, Tammar and black-gloved to changes in climate. The state wallabies, creeks and freshwater government has committed $7 million systems. The threatened red-tailed for Stage 1 to support private land- phascogale has been recorded in the holders to undertake land-care works past and probably hangs on in the and sign up to voluntary conservation she-oak thickets. There is also habitat agreements. Changes to planning suitable for eighteen threatened species, laws will also ensure that existing including the elusive dibbler. habitat connections are not broken purchase, the chain of linked reserves Much of the recently cleared land is by any new developments. now extends for more than eight regenerating naturally. The extent of the Scottsdale Reserve was purchased area needing active replanting is currently kilometres along the Nardoo Hills. with support from The Vincent Fairfax being assessed. Once restored, this new The gently undulating and dissected hills Family Foundation, private donors bushland will strengthen and expand the of the new block add significantly to the honouring the lives of Dr Peter developing habitat corridor. area of mallee and endangered plains Barrer and Helen Rickards, and the New reserve in Victoria grassy woodland that is protected. The Australian Government’s National healthy woodlands and box–ironbark Reserve System Programme. While projects such as Gondwana Link forests contain numerous old hollow- and Kosciuszko to Coast make headlines bearing trees, essential nesting and and generate national interest, other resting sites for many native animals Bush Heritage projects quietly continue agencies, Indigenous groups, regional and birds. The threatened hooded robin, to reinstate other pieces in our jigsaw. authorities and individuals to meet the diamond firetail, brown treecreeper, challenges that our native plants and In the past few weeks, another piece, black-chinned honeyeater and tree animals will face as a result of global the third, has been added in the Nardoo goanna have already been recorded. warming. Working principally in our five Hills in Victoria. Our thanks to the R E In this region Bush Heritage is working anchor regions, we are helping to put Ross Trust and Bush Heritage supporters closely with the local Wedderburn the pieces back into the fragmented who have funded the acquisition of Conservation Management Network. It jigsaw that is Australia, and to restore this strategically placed 216 hectare provides strong community-based support pathways of native habitats for animals property. It connects the southern end for conservation initiatives in the area. and plants to move through as they need of the current Bush Heritage Nardoo to. Our progress is steady but the task Hills reserves to the otherwise isolated Throughout Australia, Bush Heritage is immense. The support provided by Woosang block of the Wychitella Nature is teaming up with conservation and people such as you is critical to what Conservation Reserve. With this latest research organisations, government we can achieve. From left: Threatened Corackerup moort Eucalyptus vesiculosa at Monjebup Reserve, WA. Monjebup Reserve, WA. PHOTOS: JIRI LOCHMAN/LOCHMAN TRANSPARENCIES Winter 2007 3 Rebuilding the bush in south-west Western Australia Bush Heritage Beyond the Boundaries of this region by protecting and carbon dioxide. Many of the young Coordinator Stuart Cowell provides reconnecting native habitats across the plants – melaleucas, eucalypts,
Recommended publications
  • Southside Camera Club March 2018 Newsletter
    F22: Southside Camera Club newsletter Volume 26 – Issue 2: March 2018 Contents Meetings 7:30 pm: Deakin Soccer Club, 3 Grose Street, Deakin First Tuesday of the month for general meetings; fourth Tuesday for DIG SIG What’s on this month 1 Reports 2 President’s report 2 Lake Eyre and the Flinders Ranges, a photography road trip Recent outings 2 Warren Hicks will do a presentation on a 2016 trip to South Australia Future events and meetings 3 Upcoming excursions 4 Queanbeyan Rodeo: Sat 10 March; 3:00 pm till... 4 ANU Enlighten: Thur 15 March 4 Online resources 4 From Paul Livingston 4 Exhibitions and workshops 4 Atlas of Life in the Coastal Wilderness 4 Introduction Photography Workshop 4 The Club online 4 Web site 4 Facebook 4 flickr 4 Photo sharpness 5 Equipment list 5 Office bearers 5 F22 gallery 6 What’s on this month Date Meeting, excursion, walkabout or group event Speaker/convenor Tues 6 March Meeting: Lake Eyre and the Flinders Ranges, a photography Warren Hicks road trip Sat 10 March Balloon Festival: Arrive before 6:15 am for first balloons Brian Moir filling Sat 10 March Queanbeyan Rodeo. Start time 3:00 pm Ann Gibbs-Jordan Thurs 15 March Enlighten at the ANU (Evening) Dine and stroll along the Helen Dawes new ANU ‘Mind/thinking and spaces’. Tues 27 March DIG SIG Norman Blom Sat 31 March Portrait Interest Group Malcolm Watson Reports visit to Paul’s studio in the village square is well worth it. If you can’t make it to the studio his work is found on his web site.
    [Show full text]
  • Bushtracks Bush Heritage Magazine | Summer 2019
    bushtracks Bush Heritage Magazine | Summer 2019 Outback extremes Darwin’s legacy Platypus patrol Understanding how climate How a conversation beneath Volunteers brave sub-zero change will impact our western gimlet gums led to the creation temperatures to help shed light Queensland reserves. of Charles Darwin Reserve. on the Platypus of the upper Murrumbidgee River. Bush Heritage acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the places in which we live, work and play. We recognise and respect the enduring relationship they have with their lands and waters, and we pay our respects to elders, past and present. CONTRIBUTORS 1 Ethabuka Reserve, Qld, after rains. Photo by Wayne Lawler/EcoPix Chris Grubb Clare Watson Dr Viki Cramer Bron Willis Amelia Caddy 2 DESIGN Outback extremes Viola Design COVER IMAGE Ethabuka Reserve in far western Queensland. Photo by Lachie Millard / 8 The Courier Mail Platypus control This publication uses 100% post- 10 consumer waste recycled fibre, made Darwin’s legacy with a carbon neutral manufacturing process, using vegetable-based inks. BUSH HERITAGE AUSTRALIA T 1300 628 873 E [email protected] 13 W www.bushheritage.org.au Parting shot Follow Bush Heritage on: few years ago, I embarked on a scientific they describe this work reminds me that we are all expedition through Bush Heritage’s Ethabuka connected by our shared passion for the bush and our Aa Reserve, which is located on the edge of the dedication to seeing healthy country, protected forever. Simpson Desert, in far western Queensland. We were prepared for dry conditions and had packed ten Over the past 27 years, this same passion and days’ worth of water, but as it happened, our visit to dedication has seen Bush Heritage grow from strength- Ethabuka coincided with a rare downpour – the kind to-strength through two evolving eras of leadership of rain that transforms desert landscapes.
    [Show full text]
  • CBD Sixth National Report
    Australia’s Sixth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity 2014 2018 ‒ 24 March 2020 © Commonwealth of Australia 2020 Ownership of intellectual property rights Unless otherwise noted, copyright (and any other intellectual property rights) in this publication is owned by the Commonwealth of Australia (referred to as the Commonwealth). Creative Commons licence All material in this publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence except content supplied by third parties, logos and the Commonwealth Coat of Arms. Inquiries about the licence and any use of this document should be emailed to [email protected]. Cataloguing data This report should be attributed as: Australia’s Sixth National Report to the Convention on Biological Diversity 2014‒2018, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2020 CC BY 4.0. ISBN 978-1-76003-255-5 This publication is available at http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/international/un-convention-biological-diversity. Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment GPO Box 858 Canberra ACT 2601 Telephone 1800 900 090 Web awe.gov.au The Australian Government acting through the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment has exercised due care and skill in preparing and compiling the information and data in this publication. Notwithstanding, the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, its employees and advisers disclaim all liability, including liability for negligence and for any loss, damage, injury, expense or cost incurred by any person as a result of accessing, using or relying on any of the information or data in this publication to the maximum extent permitted by law.
    [Show full text]
  • Abhf Summer Nl 05
    Bush Heritage News Summer 2005 ABN 78 053 639 115 www.bushheritage.org Lake Eyre.The colours and the In this issue Our latest purchase vastness of the landscape took my Cravens Peak – another bit of the breath away. Rich ochres of every hue and cobalt-blue sky seemed to Anchors in the landscape Outback stretch into infinity. Charles Darwin Reserve weeding bee Bush Heritage’s latest reserve, I was standing on the edge of the Cravens Peak, is ‘just down the Channel Country, that highly metropolitan Melbourne or Sydney) road’ from Ethabuka Reserve in productive region of Queensland and also the most expensive because far-western Queensland but, as famous for fattening cattle, and for of the ‘value’ of the Channel Country. Conservation Programs Manager this reason so far poorly reserved. We still have a great deal of money Paul Foreman points out, this new I contemplated the significance to raise! pastoral lease is very different of Bush Heritage’s buying and protecting some of this valuable Cravens Peak is now our most diverse On my first visit to Cravens Peak ecosystem at Cravens Peak Station, reserve, in both its geomorphology Station in May this year I stood where the Mulligan River plains and biology. It is an exciting acquisition on an outcrop of the Toko Range are still relatively intact. and presents us with an unprecedented and gazed over the source of the management challenge. Mulligan River.This is one of the On 31 October 2005 Cravens Peak headwaters of the immense Cooper became the 21st Bush Heritage Creek system that braids its way reserve.
    [Show full text]
  • Summer 2013 Newsletter
    BUSH HERITAGE In this issue 3 Rock‑wallabies unveiled on Yourka 4 Around your reserves 6 Falling for the Fitz‑Stirling NEWS 8 From the CEO Summer 2013 · www.bushheritage.org.au Charting the change Cockatiels bathing at a waterhole on Charles Darwin Reserve, WA. Photograph by Dale Fuller Your Charles Darwin Reserve in Western In a landscape with three times the Under current climate models, the region Australia is situated at the junction of biodiversity of Australia’s tropical rainforests, where the reserve is located is predicted two major bioregions, in a landscape of the animals found in the traps are many and to become rapidly hotter (particularly its extraordinary biodiversity. Its location makes varied, ranging from spiders, to centipedes, summer minimum temperatures) and drier it ideal for a long‑term study into how climate small mammals like dunnarts, geckos and – with an increasing proportion of its rainfall change is impacting native plants and animals. even the occasional brown snake. occurring in the summer months. As the morning sun sheds its first light across Within one of Australia’s only two a subtle landscape of undulating sandplains, internationally recognised biodiversity “It’s at these sort of contact dense mulga scrub and shimmering salt hotspots, Charles Darwin Reserve provides points where you’re going to lakes, Bush Heritage staff and volunteers essential habitat and vital insights into the are already up and on the go on your conservation of thousands of plant and first see the changing ecology Charles Darwin Reserve. animal species. of plants and animals due to At dawn, each of the strategically placed pitfall It’s also ideally located for gathering the effects of climate change.” traps needs to be checked, and the overnight information about the long‑term effects Dr Nic Dunlop, Project Leader, catch recorded and released as quickly of climate change in such a biodiverse area.
    [Show full text]
  • Bush Heritage News Winter 2003
    Bush Heritage News Winter 2003 ABN 78 053 639 115 www.bushheritage.org In this issue New land at Liffey Reserve values Carnarvon springs Currumbin Charles Darwin Reserve update Chereninup update the blocks purchased by Bob Brown in receiving the tax deduction now available Another reserve 1990 to become the first Bush Heritage for gifts of this kind, the benefits of reserves. Like these reserves it backs onto which can be spread over five years. at Liffey the Central Plateau World Heritage Area Bush Heritage will manage the property beneath the great dolorite and sandstone along with its neighbouring Liffey In 1992, as Bob Brown was building a escarpment. Majestic trees cling to the reserves.Your valuable donations will fledgling organisation into the Australian walls of the steep-sided valley beneath help cover its modest management costs. Bush Heritage Fund, Dr Judy Henderson the Great Western Tiers.A creek tumbles was buying land. Her motivation, like down over a series of spectacular waterfalls Judy is pleased to have the land protected Bob Brown’s, was to save the magnificent to feed the Liffey River with its platypus for the long term. Bush Heritage is trees on this property in Tasmania from and native fish.This creek gully supports grateful for this generous gift that is a being clear-felled. At the time, Judy a mix of wet sclerophyll and rainforest valuable addition to the land in its care. Henderson was one of the founding species and an abundance of ferns.The directors of Bush Heritage. Bush Heritage is one of the best initiatives area is also home to white goshawks, that I have ever been associated with.
    [Show full text]
  • WWF0107 the Web Summer.Indd
    THE WEB The national newsletter for the Threatened Species Network WELCOME TO SUMMER 2007 The Threatened Species Network is a community -based program of the Australian Government and WWF-Australia Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore MP, WWF-Australia CEO Greg Bourne and Earth Hour Youth Ambassador Sarah Bishop at the launch of Earth Hour on 15 December 2006. Sarah Bishop will walk from Brisbane to Sydney in early 2007 as a way of voicing young Australians’ concerns about global warming. During the two-month, 1000-kilometre walk, Sarah will exchange ideas and make presentations to communities along the way, illustrating the simple things people can do to make a difference. © WWF/Tanya Lake. COMMUNITY ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE By Katherine Howard, TSN Program Officer, WWF-Australia Welcome to the Summer Web! In the last couple of editions we’ve talked about the topic that’s on everyone’s lips – climate change. Here at the TSN we are very excited about an upcoming event called Earth Hour, organised by WWF-Australia and Fairfax Publishing. At 7.30 pm on 31 March, businesses and households all over Sydney will switch off their lights for one hour. Earth Hour is part of a major effort CONTENTS to reduce Sydney’s greenhouse gas pollution by 5% in one year, and will send NATIONAL NEWS a very powerful message that it is possible to take action against global warming. What’s On 2 The threat of climate change needs to be tackled by a two-pronged approach: mitigation and adaptation. We REGIONAL NEWS need to both lower our greenhouse emissions to reduce the extent of climate change (mitigation) and to build SA 3 the resilience of our native species and natural ecosystems to the changed conditions (adaptation).1 The TSN’s Queensland 4 speciality is community-based, on-ground conservation, so we particularly focus on building resilience, but we Arid Rangelands 6 certainly haven’t forgotten how crucial it is to also reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases.
    [Show full text]
  • Bush Heritage News Edgbaston Reserve »» Focus on Bon Bon Station Reserve Summer 2009 »» Enter Our Competition!
    www.bushheritage.org.au In this issue » Bio-blitz at Yourka Reserve » New discoveries from Bush Heritage News Edgbaston Reserve » Focus on Bon Bon Station Reserve Summer 2009 » Enter our competition! Getting to grips with Yourka Reserve Queensland Herbarium botanist Jeanette Kemp joined Above: Staff members (L-R) Jim Radford, Ecological Monitoring Coordinator Jim Radford and Clair Dougherty and Paul Foreman undertaking vegetation survey in eucalypt woodlands of Yourka other Bush Heritage staff in an exploration of one of Reserve, Qld. PHOTO: JEN GRINdrod. Inset: Scenic landform and vegetation of Yourka Reserve, Bush Heritage’s newest reserves. Qld. PHOTO: WayNE LawlER/ECOPIX. hump! We felt the jolt of the Hilux and potholes into the tracks around The primary aim of the blitz was to learn Tshuddering to an abrupt stop before Yourka Reserve had also delayed more about the ecology of Yourka by we registered the sound of the front axle ecological surveys because much of gathering information from focused field ramming into the chalky roadbed as the the reserve was inaccessible until surveys and investigation. An intensive track gave way beneath us. Opening autumn. When we arrived we could mammal survey program, using infra-red the doors, we tumbled out into a gaping see flood debris, including uprooted motion-triggered cameras, cage traps and spotlighting, was conducted in the hole in the road. The deceptively solid trees, lodged in the limbs of towering moist forests and woodlands in the east surface was merely a thin crust over paperbarks and river she-oaks a full of the property. Although the presence a treacherous pothole, excavated by 20 m above the creeks.
    [Show full text]
  • Biodiversity Planning for Local Landscapes
    Planning for catchment biodiversity targets at a local landscape scale: a proposal for the South-west Slopes Bioregion of NSW From 1 July 2009 the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) referred to in this report was renamed the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (DECCW), with additional responsibilities for water. This paper should be cited as: DECCW 2009, Planning for catchment biodiversity targets at a local landscape scale: a proposal for the South-west Slopes Bioregion of NSW, Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, Sydney, NSW. Cover photos: main image – box-gum woodland, Humula NSW (photo: Mason Crane). Smaller images, top to bottom: mapping biodiversity assets (DECCW); white box woodland in drought, Morven NSW (photo: Mark Sheahan, DECCW); engaging people in planning (photo: Stuart Cohen, DECCW). Published by: Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW 59–61 Goulburn Street, Sydney PO Box A290, Sydney South 1232 Phone: (02) 9995 5000 (switchboard) Phone: 131 555 (environment information and publications requests) Phone: 1300 361 967 (national parks information and publications requests) Fax: (02) 9995 5999 TTY: (02) 9211 4723 Email: [email protected] Website: www.environment.nsw.gov.au ISBN 978 1 74232 427 2 DECCW 2009/601 October 2009 Preface … The NSW Government and the NSW community have, through the catchment management authorities, established targets for natural resource management, including targets for biodiversity. Yet the task of achieving these catchment biodiversity targets across the landscape is a challenging one. In predominantly agricultural landscapes, these challenges include large landscapes, diverse communities with large numbers of landholdings, and limited data and mapping to identify sites with high biodiversity values or restoration potential.
    [Show full text]
  • Spring 2011 Newsletter
    BUSH HERITAGE Thank you for 20 years of conservation Special edition Spring 2011 www.bushheritage.org.au Bob Brown Founder of Bush Heritage Australia Bob Brown at Oura Oura Photograph by Peter Morris I walked through a gully dense with Thanks to you, Bush Heritage has “I’ve supported Bush rainforest and carpeted by ferns. weathered the seasons along the Heritage for 20 years” A small creek bubbled away nearby. road to today, our 20th anniversary. I found some hand-worked shards of I’d like to invite you to celebrate your stone – a reminder of the Aboriginal part in those 20 years. In this newsletter, “I was walking in Tasmania’s Liffey Valley people who’d been going there for you’ll see stories of others who love our on a sunny day in 1990 when I made a thousands of years, to enjoy the morning bush just like you do.” decision that began the journey we now sun. I felt a connection with humanity that know as Bush Heritage Australia. stretched back to generations past, and “These are your stories – forward to generations yet to come. I often walked in the bush to collect my I couldn’t stand by and watch that spirit the stories of our bush, thoughts – I still do. On that day, I was die. With encouragement and support walking high above two beautiful bush our creatures and our people, from a group of like-minded friends, blocks that had come up for sale and I decided to go into debt to buy this from 20 years of conservation.” that logging companies were keen to natural part of the Australian bush.
    [Show full text]
  • Bush Heritage News | Winter 2012 3 Around Your Reserves in 90 Days Your Support Makes a Difference in So Many Ways, Every Day, All Across Australia
    In this issue BUSH 3 A year at Carnarvon 4 Around your reserves 6 Her bush memory HERITAGE 7 Easter on Boolcoomatta NEWS 8 From the CEO Winter 2012 www.bushheritage.org.au Your wombat refuge The woodlands and saltlands of your Bon Bon Station Reserve are home to the southern hairy-nosed wombat. These endearing creatures have presented reserve manager Glen Norris with a tricky challenge. Lucy Ashley reports Glen Norris has worked as reserve manager – and he has to work out how to do this “It’s important we reduce rabbit in charge of protecting over 200,000 without harming the wombats, or their hectares of sprawling desert, saltlands, precious burrows. populations, and soon,” says wetlands and woodlands at Bon Bon The ultimate digging machine Glen. “Thanks to lots of help Station Reserve in South Australia for two-and-a-half years. Smaller than their cousin the common from Bush Heritage supporters wombat, southern hairy-nosed wombats Right now, he has a tricky situation on his have soft, fluffy fur (even on their nose), since we bought Bon Bon and hands. long sticky-up ears and narrow snouts. de-stocked it, much of the land Glen has to remove a large population of With squat, strongly built bodies and short highly destructive feral rabbits from legs ending in large paws with strong is now in great condition.” underground warren systems that they’re blade-like claws, they are the ultimate currently sharing with a population of marsupial digging machine. Photograph by Steve Parish protected southern hairy-nosed wombats How you’ve help created a refuge for Bon Bon’s wombats and other native animals • Purchase of the former sheep station in 2008 • Removal of sheep and repair of boundary fences to keep neighbour’s stock out • Control of recent summer bushfires • Soil conservation works to reduce erosion • Ongoing management of invasive weeds like buffel grass • Control programs for rabbits, foxes and feral cats.
    [Show full text]
  • Winter 2015 Newsletter
    BUSH TRACKS Bush Heritage Australia’s quarterly magazine for active conservation Double the impact in outback wetlands A black-winged stilt, photographed here at Naree, is among the native birds to use these wetlands. Photo Peter Morris. On most days if you could see our A major rain event – enough to flood the “At the moment there’s a lot of red sand, Naree Station Reserve, or neighbouring ephemeral wetlands and flip their natural cycle silver trees and very dry grass. The heart Yantabulla Station, it would be hard to into a ‘boom’ – only happens once every five to of it is still wet though,” says Sue Akers. believe the parched outback landscape ten years. In between it’s a very different story. Sue and husband David are our managers transforms into one of Australia’s most at Naree. Walking into the wetlands when they’re breathtaking inland wetlands, teeming dry, as they are now, is an extraordinary Earlier this year we had our first glimpse with water birds. experience. Ancient black box, coolabah since Bush Heritage purchased Naree in These properties sit at the heart of trees and elegant yapunyahs are found 2012 of just how quickly these ephemeral the Paroo-Warrego wetlands (the last around the swamp margins. The deeper you wetlands can transform. remaining free-flowing river catchment go the larger the river wattles and tangled in the Murray-Darling Basin) about lignum shrubs become. In certain spots you In this issue 150km north-west of Bourke in NSW. can see dozens of old nesting platforms left 4 Science: Expanding our horizons behind by previous generations of waterbirds.
    [Show full text]