Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) is working in partnership with the South West Group (SWG) and five of its Council Members; City of Cockburn, City of Fremantle, City of Kwinana, City of Melville and Town of East Fremantle to enhance and extend a regional network of ecological linkages connecting local and state government managed land in the south west metropolitan region.
CVA is assisting these local governments to enhance these ecological linkages by engaging volunteers to undertake a range of practical conservation activities. The objective of the partnership is to engage local residents in local environmental projects, increase community awareness of environmental threats and issues, and to enhance the condition of the region’s natural areas to preserve or improve its biodiversity values and the community’s enjoyment of those areas.
Importantly, the work being undertaken is contributing to the preservation and improvement of the natural habitat for the Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo (listed as Endangered under Commonwealth legislation) and the Forest Red Tail Black Cockatoo (listed as Vulnerable). This sees volunteers undertaking conservation activities that protect waterways and improve the habitat values of natural areas. Our volunteers also engage in the protection of threatened ecological communities such as Banksia Woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain. Banksia Woodlands are an important foraging ground for the Carnaby’s Cockatoo and is declared threatened due to human impacts such as land clearing for urbanisation and spread of pathogens such as Phytophthora Dieback.
Since July 2017, CVA volunteers have been actively enhancing ecological linkages that support Black Cockatoos in their foraging and roosting habitats. Volunteers have contributed 5,770 hours in conservation activities, planted 23,763 native seedlings and cleared nearly 458,000m2 of invasive weeds species.
Your generous donations continue to enable further engagement of the community in local and state initiatives that deliver on-ground activities which protect threatened species and communities, and which actively contribute to ‘greener’ cities.
Thank you for your continuing support.
Tristan Duke, Regional Manager - Perth
Thank You for Supporting the Help Save the Tasmanian Devil Projects
As the Help Save the Tasmanian Devil projects come to a close, Conservation Volunteers Australia would like to thank all those involved and share some of our achievements with you.
From the beginning of the project, it was Conservation Volunteers Australia’s aim to ensure there is a healthy future for Tasmanian Devils by constructing safe, comfortable dens and protective breeding enclosures at Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. A number of crucial structures within the enclosures, including digging mounds and sniffing platforms provide Devils with the essentials to utilise their natural behavioural characteristics and communicate effectively with each other.
A particularly satisfying part of the project was being able to involve the local community to join in and help maximise the generous support of our Global Giving donors through applied, everyday action. This was demonstrated by enthusiastic volunteers completing enclosures as part of the 'Nurturing the Tasmanian Devil' project, providing Tasmanian Devils involved in the breeding program more space and shelter. Really a great effort!
With the ongoing help of all our wonderful volunteers, Conservation Volunteers Australia has been able to install 25 Devil dens, providing a safe and comfortable habitat for the retired Devil. The construction of a large ‘Retirement Village’ to humanely house older disease-free Tasmanian Devils that are no longer required for breeding purposes, ensures a safe place for them to live out their lives. Much focus was also placed on improvement to the surrounding landscapes and ecosystems which assists other local native wildlife to flourish.
With a large proportion of the wild population of Tasmanian Devils at risk from the deadly Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), it was vital that an ‘insurance population’ of healthy Devils be carefully managed through captive breeding to ensure the species' survival.
This required providing a healthy and safe environment for quarantined Tasmanian Devils on the Australian mainland. Conservation Volunteers Australia assisted in habitat maintenance for a population of disease-free Devils being housed in New South Wales to further boost population numbers of healthy Tasmanian Devil individuals. This type of program is vital for the future of the Tasmanian Devil.
Our very special thanks also goes to our Global Giving donors, who have become such an important part of the Help Save the Tasmanian Devil projects. With your help we have been able to achieve our goals and provide the Tasmanian Devil with much needed support and hope for the future.
There is still much to do, as the prognosis for wild Devils is sadly not so rosy. Scientists are estimating a possible wild population extinction within the next decade. Creating and managing these types of programs for ‘captive breeding’ and ‘insurance populations’ of Tasmanian Devils is paramount to the species survival, should the wild population completely succumb to the deadly DFTD, and disappear from the forests of Tasmania altogether.
It has been a real pleasure working with the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and the Tasmanian government over the past 6 years and we look forward to collaborating with them on many other projects in the future.
So as we close the Help Save the Tasmanian Devil project, all our thanks from everyone here at Conservation Volunteers Australia and Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. Your help and generous donations have provided the Tasmanian Devil population with vital research, monitoring and breeding programs, all of which have made a real difference.
We look forward to your ongoing support of our future projects. Thank you again.
Renae Riviere - State Manager
New Rewilding Infrastructure Complete
Late last year we were received a grant from the Victorian State Government’s Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning to redevelop our wildlife education and captive breeding facility. We are proud to announce that this redevelopment is now complete, and we have accommodation to house a suite of locally extinct, nationally threatened species.
In this project we have:
- Constructed 180m meters of new fencing
- Created 8 new enclosures
- Developed 400m of new walking track
- Engaged 46 volunteers who contributed 1,130 hours of their time
The next step is the fun bit, finding some animals to come and live in them! We look forward to this critical milestone, and to bringing these animals back to the region for the first time in over 100 years. Along with contributing to a national network of predator proof facilities and help prevent these species from becoming extinct.
To accompany the new experience, we also developed a number of high-quality wildlife education and interpretive experiences to help improve the knowledge and awareness of biodiversity and wildlife conservation issues. By highlighting the plight of these locally extinct native species and housing them in our safe havens at the Little Desert Nature Lodge, we will create a rare and unique chance for the community and visitors to see, experience and connect with, our cryptic threatened species and thereby increase knowledge and awareness of these species and their conservation issues.
Now with this significant milestone completed, we will turn our attention to developing our research and rewilding reintroduction program. However, before reintroductions begin we still need to make some critical upgrades to our external predator proof fences. To make this happen we need your support to buy rolls of wire, netting, fence pins, posts and screws! So please continue to give generously!
To our amazing supporters and donors, we would again like to say thank you! Without your support we cannot continue this critical project and help conserve Australia’s weird, wonderful and highly threatened native wildlife.
Ben Holmes, Manager Rewilding
