Wildlife habitat – protect, create, monitor
On November 2018, the Nature Conservation Council with the Coffs Harbour and District Local Aboriginal Land Council hosted the workshop ‘Wildlife Habitat – Protect, Create, Monitor’ on Gumbaynggirr country at Mylestom. This workshop was designed to train land managers to identify, track and monitor wildlife to support effective management practices.
The workshop drew on the collaborative efforts of a diverse group of 27 participants, including members from: Coffs Harbour and District Local Aboriginal Land Council, Darrunda Wajaarr Bush Regeneration group, NSW Rural Fire Service, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Office of Environment and Heritage, Northern Rivers Fire and Biodiversity Consortium, bush regeneration organisations, local councils, local community members and land managers.
This program was funded by the James N Kirby Foundation and the Nature Conservation Council.
Many thanks to Ryan Jasper Walsh for creating the film and Willow Driver,
Gordon Fraser and Dan Bur for contributing footage.
The aim of the workshop:
- Improve community understanding of our globally significant biodiversity
- Plan and deliver a workshop to deliver on-field skills of fauna identification skills
- Develop skills on using trapping equipment including remote cameras
- Develop knowledge and practical skills of the importance of hollows and other habitat features and how to protect them, including from bushfire risk and management activities
- Work with the Coffs Harbour and District Local Aboriginal Land Council and Darrunda Wajaarr Bush Regeneration group to design and implement a fauna habitat monitoring program to guide better wildlife management
Participants help set up a harp trap to catch microbats.
The program involved 3 days of fauna surveying, followed by a training workshop day. Activities on the field include:
- Fauna surveys including Elliott, harp, pitfall and camera traps
- Fauna monitoring techniques like spotlighting and call play backs for nocturnal species
- Identify flora, fauna and habitat
- Exploring Country and the identifying cultural sites
- Group discussions and knowledge sharing about the best ways to achieve conservation outcomes using monitoring techniques
Results from surveying:
A microbat, antechinus, and frog caught during surveying.
Over the 4 nights of setting 400 trap nights for small mammals, and 16 for microbats a total of 93 fauna species were captured. This included a total of 69 bird species, 5 small ground-dwelling mammals, 6 microbats, 6 reptiles and 7 frogs. It was discovered that 9 of these species are listed as Threatened in NSW under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.
The workshop recieved positive feedback from participants, with reports expressing that the discussions were useful to their role, work or interests. The workshop helped develop their understanding on fauna survey methodologies and monitoring techniques.
Tags
Forests and wildlife
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