Foxes deer and cats to be blocked from 50,000ha park in Victoria, turning it into a ‘wildlife haven’
|
|
A long-nosed potoroo.
Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images |
The $6m fence is designed to protect vulnerable species including ground parrots, the southern brown bandicoot and long-nosed potoroo in the national park, south-east of Melbourne.
Parks Victoria chief conservation scientist Mark Norman said the funding would help reshape the national park into a 50,000-hectare sanctuary.
“The development of this predator and deer-proof fence across the narrow entrance to the park allows us to really create a wildlife haven at a huge scale. We’ll stop the wave of feral pests and really protect the special wildlife living there.”
The fence will allow Parks Victoria to focus on eradicating any pests or predators inside the park.
It will be built deep into the ground and almost 2 metres tall to prevent animals finding a way around, underneath or over it. Norman said that would allow conservationists to maintain the park’s populations of native animals.
“The significance of the fence is huge, it’s like creating an island ark where all the native animals and their habitats are protected. It means all the work we do won’t be constantly going backwards with the stream of pests coming in.
“It’ll also make an amazing experience for people to connect with nature. It would be like entering a modern Jurassic Park, or a native haven, where the animals bounce back and get the support they need.”
The fence is part of a $23m upgrade to facilities, including a new visitor centre, tourism hub and new accomodation, as well as upgrading walking tracks, car parks and existing accommodation.
It will turn the park something like an island, according to Matt Ruchel, Executive director at Victorian National Parks Association, protecting the wildlife there. But he said it wasn’t just the fence that would improve the park.
“The fence is the iconic bit, but it’s the management following it that’s really important. There needs to be an integrated plan, and you’d hope down the track, you’d be in a position to reintroduce some of those species in a safe space where they can flourish.”
“It’ll only work if there is intensive management of those pests in the reserve itself. What it does is then open the door to re-wilding animals and readjusting the ecology.”
The Victorian environment minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, said the funding boost would help protect the environment and make it easier for more people to enjoy the park.
“These are vital investments in conservation that will not only protect the biodiversity that underpins the health of Victoria’s environment but also take carbon out of our atmosphere, an important step in fighting climate change.”
Norman told Guardian Australia the funding would go toward improving the walking track, making the facilities safe and more accessible, as well as replacing old “glamping” spots with eco-friendly pods.
“I think it’ll engage the public and it’ll be a model for getting more people active in nature conservation and connecting with nature.”
Ruchel welcomed the upgrades to visitor facilities, saying they are much needed in this current climate.
“We know people are more inspired to visit nature, and we saw it after the first lockdown that there was an explosion in visitation, so the visitation needs to be managed.”
“The infrastructure helps with that, but we shouldn’t forget we need core ecological programs to make sure it’s not just the physical assets that are protected, but also that we’re managing the parks to the highest level.”
Authorities are hoping that by preventing predators and pests entering the park, they will be able to reintroduce native animals, such as the eastern bristlebird, eastern bettong and the spot-tailed quoll.
“By getting rid of the feral pests, we’ll see an amazing bounce-back in endangered birds, endangered ground mammals, their reptiles and frogs. One feral cat can eat up to 5,000 animals a year, so they’re just pigging out on animals wholesale.”
Ruchel said he was happy with the funding, and thought it was enough to get the upgrades installled and implemented, but that it wasn’t enough.
“It’s good to see the Andrews government recognising the value of our natural areas by making this investment, but in the longer term we need better routine funding for management.”
“The problem we have in park management is if its initial funding, it doesn’t always last. There is a question of needing ongoing long term support for these programs so that our ecosystems are managed consistently and for the long term.”
Norman hoped the park could act as an emergency shelter for threatened species around the state, especially after last year’s bushfires.
“In the bushfires, we almost lost the Victorian eastern bristlebird, and we’re going to set up an insurance population at the Prom, so if another catastrophic fire comes, they don’t go extinct in the state.”
“The improvements will really come to show off the jewel in Victoria’s natural estate.”
Links
- Rewild To Mitigate The Climate Crisis, Urge Leading Scientists
- Starting Gun Fired On Global Hunt For Hundreds Of Billions To Fund Nature Protection
- David Attenborough Leads Call For World To Invest $500 Billion A Year To Protect Nature
- World Failed To Meet A Single Goal To Save Nature: UN Biodiversity Report
- Sir David Attenborough Delivers Stark Warning In BBC Doc 'Extinction: The Facts'
- The World Lost Two-Thirds Of Its Wildlife In 50 Years. We Are To Blame
- (AU) Almost 3 Billion Animals Affected By Australian Bushfires, Report Shows
-
'The forest is now terribly silent': land set aside for threatened
species entirely burnt out
-
Court orders logging to stop in parts of Victoria's central
highlands after fires
-
Reporting on the Australian fires: 'It has been heartbreaking'
-
Government to commit $50m for wildlife affected by bushfires as
green groups call for action
-
A new home could save the mountain pygmy possum from global heating,
scientists say
-
Bogong moth tracker launched in face of 'unprecedented' collapse in
numbers
-
'Elusive and cryptic' lizard may be first Australian mainland
reptile declared extinct
-
Australian zoo breeds rare plains-wanderer by replacing absent
father with feather duster
- A few reclaimed golf courses won't stop the Arctic melting, but it's the sentiment we need
- Two new greater glider species discovered: 'Australia’s biodiversity just got a lot richer'
No comments :
Post a Comment