Stemming the Tide of Biodiversity Loss
The Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is a not-for-profit non-government organisation which has been working for years to prevent biodiversity extinctions. Since it was formed in 1991 it has bought a range of properties across the nation to protect biodiversity. It now owns, manages, and works in partnerships with other groups across more than 12.9 million hectares.
Among the sanctuaries AWC owns are Newhaven (261,5001 ha) north-west of Alice Springs, Yookamurra (5,027 ha) in SA’s Murraylands and Scotia (64,969 ha) in NSW about 150km south of Broken Hill.
A key part of AWC’s success is based on predator-free enclosures in some of their sanctuaries. These are securely fenced areas where foxes and cats have been removed as well as feral herbivores such camels and goats.
At Scotia, the 8,000 ha feral free enclosure has enabled AWC to re-establish self-sustaining populations of four nationally threatened mammals – the Greater Bilby, Numbat, Bridled Nailtail Wallaby and Burrowing Bettong. At Yookamurra’s 1,100 ha feral free enclosure Bilbies, Numbats, and Burrowing Bettongs as well as the Brush-tailed Bettongs have been successfully re-introduced.
AWC has a project partnership with the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service in the Pilliga in north-western NSW. The 35,632 ha project area is in the northern Pilliga forests in the Pilliga National Park and the Pilliga State Conservation Area where a 5,800 ha fox and cat free area has been established. Bilbies (extinct in the wild in NSW since about 1912) from Scotia were released in the fenced area in December 2018. In 2019 Bridled Nailtail Wallabies from Queensland’s Taunton National Park were also released there. Other releases planned include Western Quoll, Western Barred Bandicoot, Brushtailed Bettong and Plains Mouse.
While organisations such as the AWC are undertaking important conservation work to save threatened species from extinction, it is our three levels of government that have the major responsibility to effectively protect the natural world on which we as humans rely for the services it provides us, and all the non-human life forms whose survival also depends on healthy ecosystems.
Leonie Blain