By Tricia Curtis | Wild Futures Team
Winter is well and truly here at Brookfield Conservation Park! We have had some super rainfalls and the Park is looking very green – not bad for a semi-arid location! This is good news for our Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats, as the rains will hopefully bring new growth of their favourite food – Austrostipa.
Vegetation Surveys are currently the priority at Brookfield. One of the best comments we had recently from a volunteer, Greg, summed up many people’s experiences at Brookfield: “This is marvellous – I feel like David Attenborough!” Greg knows that these priority surveys are assisted financially by the donors from Global Giving and he is most appreciative. As are mother and daughter team Tracy & Eloise who have also assisted with the vegetation surveys. Eloise is 16 years and said: “I didn’t realise I could help do such important things for the environment. I am still at school and thought only university people could do things like this. It’s awesome!”
Tracy was surprised how little she knew about the plight of the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat in the Mallee: “I hadn’t realised what a precarious position the wombats were in. They are in such a vulnerable state up here.” She was amazed at how easy it was to help: “This is such an easy way to help – just a little bit of my time and we can make a huge difference by collecting this information, and it is so interesting!” Global Giving donors not only support the on-ground activities that help preserve the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat and its habitat, but also help educate the community by spreading the word through these volunteers.
Whilst these priority surveys continue, plans are underway for vegetation exclosures. We have selected the sites and volunteers will be out in upcoming projects to collect seed for the exclosures. However, financial assistance is still needed to purchase the materials. The exclosures have to be secure enough to keep the other wildlife grazers out and large enough to support the research and the collection of future seed. This will provide a great seed source for future revegetation and concise data for future rehabilitation and management. Your support will help us with these next steps for the Park. Donations can be made in set amounts for materials or you can pledge your own amount and know that you are furthering the survival of this iconic species.
Thank you again for your generous support. It has provided much activity at the Park recently and has also provided the impetus for future project ideas, which will soon include the assistance of Dr Elisa Sparrow, well known wombat researcher across South Australia – stay tuned for the next update!
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