Fifteen flagship threatened animals to receive a helping hand through final 20 Million Trees round

Red-Tailed Phascogales, Tasmanian Devils, Carnaby’s Cockatoos and Greater Gliders are some of the threatened species set to benefit from seven new Greening Australia restoration projects.

The projects, funded through the final round of the Australian Government’s 20 Million Trees Programme (part of the National Landcare Programme), will see habitat connected and restored across thousands of hectares in Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.

By 2020, 3.5 million native trees, shrubs and understory plants will have been put into the ground, supporting fifteen flagship threatened animal species and restoring five threatened plant communities, in addition to providing a host of flow on benefits for others.

Head of Government Relations at Greening Australia Hugh Wareham says, “It has been a privilege to work in partnership with the Australian Government, landholders and local communities to deliver a suite of 20 Million Trees projects over the past six years. We now look forward to leading this exciting range of new projects that will bring significant benefits to a number of Australia’s unique threatened species and boost local economies.”

NEW 20 MILLION TREES PROJECTS:

Restoration of Indigenous Land in the southern wheatbelt to enhance habitat for Carnaby’s Cockatoos and restore Eucalyptus Woodlands

This project will enhance and relink threatened Eucalyptus Woodlands for Carnaby’s Cockatoos on Indigenous owned land within Western Australia’s southern wheatbelt. The project serves as a valuable opportunity to restore land, heal communities and will provide a positive pathway into the future for environment and culture in this biodiversity hotspot.

Reconnecting Budj Bim

Working with the Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation and local land managers, this project will mix indigenous knowledge with leading-edge revegetation techniques to restore 400ha of critically endangered Grassy Eucalypt Woodlands across the Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape. The work will improve and relink habitat for wildlife including the endangered Spotted-tailed Quoll and Swift Parrot.

Restoring and connecting habitat across the central zone of Gondwana Link

In partnership with local landholders, this project will build on previous work in the Gondwana Link to restore an additional 1,000ha of cleared farmland through the planting of 950,000 plants and associated understory. On-ground work will enhance the extent of nationally listed endangered Kwongkan Shrubland and provide new habitat for Malleefowl and Carnaby’s Cockatoos.

Large-scale restoration of habitat for Red-Tailed Phascogale in the WA wheatbelt

This project will create and relink 1,400 hectares of critical habitat across the WA wheatbelt for the little known Red-tailed Phascogale, a carnivorous marsupial whose range once extended across semi-arid and arid Australia. The project will also increase the extent of critically endangered Eucalyptus Woodlands and provide habitat for many other plants and animals.

Reconnecting habitat for Tasmanian Devils, Spotted-Tailed Quolls and Eastern Barred Bandicoots in the Tasmanian Midlands.

Partnering with landholders in the Tasmanian Midlands, this project will establish a further 300ha of wildlife corridors to relink and create habitat for Australia’s critically endangered mammals as part of Tasmania Island Ark.

Improving habitat for the Greater Glider and other threatened species of the Strzelecki Ranges

Building on the success and partnerships developed through ‘Land of the Lyrebird’, this new project will increase the connectivity and extent of habitat for the nationally listed Greater Glider, Swamp Antechinus and the endemic Strzelecki Gum, through the restoration of 127ha of Wet and Damp forests and rainforest communities.

 Enhancing the threatened woodlands of Mitchell River National Park

This collaborative project will restore 65ha of threatened White Box Grassy Woodland and riparian vegetation in a degraded section of Gippsland’s Mitchell River National Park, creating habitat for threatened species including the Growling Grass Frog and Austral Toad Flax. The project is being delivered in partnership with Parks Victoria and The Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation.