Protecting Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat impacted by bushfires and drought with WIRES and Landcare Australia

The ‘Casuarinas for Cockies’ project is in the High Country Hamlets area of Toowoomba Region, hard hit by the 2019/2020 bushfires and drought. Swathes of casuarinas burned out or died back. In the aftermath, the project will plant and maintain 700 Black and Forest Sheoak varieties of casuarinas, the preferred feed trees of GBC in HCH.

And the project is made possible through funding from WIRES Landcare Australia Wildlife Relief and Recovery Grants.

“People in HCH love their GBCs. So much so, the bird is featured on our local map. The project is important because GBCs are listed as vulnerable and their habitat was badly impacted by the bushfire and drought” explained Peter Hayes, spokesperson for Friends of Land for Wildlife Toowoomba Region.

“We can’t simply rely on regrowth to support GBCs, we need to plant casuarinas to accelerate recovery of impacted groves and establish new groves on otherwise cleared land. And it’s absolutely essential to have landowners on board. We will support them to improve habitat on their property. Improving habitat is good not just the GBC, but for numerous other species, and ultimately, improves the overall health of the land to benefit to us all.”

To increase its reach, the project also includes community engagement and education activities for residents and visitors from across the Toowoomba Region.

“The Gummingurru First Nation ceremonial site is a site of a casuarina grove planting. We are very excited to hold an event combining a tour of the site and planting with a workshop on GBCs and recordings sightings of them, co-hosted by the site custodians.”  

The project involves 14 project sites across HCH and partnering between FLFWTR and Toowoomba Regional Council, Gummingurru, Crows Nest Show Society, Dingo Mountain Park and numerous other landowners committed to restoring the habitat value of their properties.

Launched in April 2020, the WIRES Landcare Australia Wildlife Relief and Recovery Grants is a pioneering alliance between two not-for-profits that have been part of the fabric of local communities for over 30 years.

64 environmental groups across the country will benefit from the landmark $1.185million grants partnership supporting recovery of wildlife habitats impacted by bushfire and drought.

Made possible due to the unprecedented volume of donations to WIRES from within Australia and around the world following the Black Summer bushfires, this grants program will support wide-ranging regeneration projects focused on restoring habitat impacted by the bushfires.

Projects include rainforest revegetation, installation of nest boxes to replace destroyed tree hollows for decimated native species, feeding programs for endangered wildlife, management of invasive weeds, erosion control and protection of our waterways and aquatic habitat.

Click here for the full list of recipients.

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