Page 1421 - Week 05 - Thursday, 13 May 2021
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The ACT government is playing its part in halting this biodiversity decline. This is a government that is committed to research and evidence-based environmental management. We know that we must be part of the research effort to reverse biodiversity decline, and we are proud of our rangers and scientists that are involved in world-leading work around threatened species. We currently run over 20 threatened species programs, working in strong collaborative partnerships with a range of universities, zoos, botanic gardens, state and federal government agencies, and community conservation organisations.
The ACT has conserved one of the largest patches of the nationally critically endangered yellow box-blakely’s red gum woodland in public hands, and the largest patches of the also critically endangered natural temperate grassland left in Australia. We are implementing ongoing programs to increase protection and management to protect these important ecosystems.
At the individual species level, our recovery programs include threatened orchid seeds being “banked” in an ongoing collaboration with the Australian National Botanic Gardens, and planning is underway for translocation of the Canberra spider orchid and a multijurisdictional and community volunteer supported orchid conservation program.
The pink-tailed worm lizard habitat restoration across the Molonglo Valley has included the placement of approximately one million habitat rocks and extensive native grass and wildflower plantings. The broad-toothed rat research into the bushfire impacts, genetic diversity and post-fire recolonisation is a collaboration with New South Wales DPIE and the University of Canberra.
I refer also to the establishment of an insurance and breeding population of the grassland earless dragon at Tidbinbilla. This purpose-built captive breeding will breed dragons for subsequent release into the wild. Captive breeding of the northern corroboree frog has enabled the release of 540 individuals to a new trial release site in Namadgi National Park, building on thousands already released into the wild.
A breeding program of brush-tailed rock-wallabies will produce 25 individuals for release into the Jedbinbilla safe haven, a fenced predator-free enclosure to support the long-term survival of this species. There are only an estimated 40 brush-tailed rock-wallabies left in the wild across Australia.
This year the ACT has also taken a national coordination role in the recovery of gang-gang cockatoos following the bushfires. This is a partnership with the commonwealth, other range states for the species, and conservation NGOs across the country.
Our premier conservation initiative, the Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary, is a partnership involving the ACT government, the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust, and the Australian National University. This is not merely a zoo or an entertainment venue; it is the focus of a significant research project that is contributing to halting decline and promoting recovery. This innovative program is supporting the recovery and reintroduction of locally extinct native animals, including the eastern bettong, the eastern quoll, the bush stone-curlew and the new holland mouse, which are all
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