Land Management Innovation Fund
On the Gippsland Plains, native flora and fauna are unable to thrive as there are too many Gippsland Red Gums of the same height and age. Trust for Nature is undertaking a unique ecological thinning trial with hopes that animals like the Spotted-tail Quoll and Southern Brown Bandicoot will make their homes there once again.
The nationally protected Gippsland Red Gum and Grassy Woodland Ecological Community, in the state’s south-east, were amongst the first areas cleared for farming when early European settlers arrived. It is only more recently that we understand the environmental significance of such ecosystems; most of which occurs on private land across Victoria. The ecological thinning project is being undertaken at our Bush Family Reserve and on-ground work is expected to finish later in 2013. While the first follow up study will occur in five years, as tree growth and the formation of hollows can take a lifetime, it could be 20 years before we start to see results.
Such long-term, pioneering research conservation programs to improve threatened ecosystems and at-risk wildlife species would not be possible without the Land Management Innovation Fund. To make a donation, please click here or call us on (03) 8631 5888.