CREATING GLIDEWAYS AT WOMBEYAN

FAME was recently featured in the Upper Lachlan Gazette for its role in supporting the Creating Glideways for the Southern Greater Glider project, a community-led conservation initiative focused on protecting the Southern Greater Glider and restoring critical forest habitat across the Wombeyan Valley.

A new conservation effort to protect the Greater Glider

A new conservation initiative is underway in the Wombeyan Valley to protect one of Australia's most enchanting and endangered marsupials, the Southern Greater Glider.

Once common in eucalypt forests along Australia's east coast, the Southern Greater Glider has experienced population declines of up to 80% in areas such as the Greater Blue Mountains over the last 20 years due to habitat loss, fragmentation, bushfires and climate stress.

These nocturnal gliders rely on mature eucalypt forests with abundant hollows and are highly sensitive to environmental change.

Coordinated locally by local volunteers in the K2W Link Partnership, supported by a collaboration between the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative and Foundation for Australia's Most Endangered Species (FAME), the Creating Glideways at Wombeyan project aims to restore and reconnect critical forest habitat for gliders and other forest dependent species.

By reducing gaps in habitat connectivity through corridor plantings, infilling with feed species and creating new tree hollows, the project aims to help gliders adapt, recover from past fires and habitat loss and survive into the future.

"Greater Gliders are a flagship species for forest health. By protecting their habitat, we're also supporting a whole community of native wildlife and building resilience into our landscapes," said Mary Bonet, Partnership Coordinator at K2W Link Inc.

The project builds on more than a decade of community led conservation in the region, with the K2W Link partnership active since 2012.

It will engage landholders, First Nations communities, researchers and volunteers in activities including tree planting, creation of artificial nest hollows, acoustic monitoring and citizen science.

The project brings together a network of collaborators, including Griffith University, Charles Sturt University, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Landcare and local field naturalist and volunteer organisations.

Innovative technologies such as LiDAR mapping and acoustic sensors will be used to monitor glider movement and habitat use, while community workshops, spotlighting surveys and eDNA sampling will provide opportunities for locals to get involved.

"This project aims to achieve a new and more optimistic future for our 'teddy bear in the trees'," said Gary Howling, CEO of the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative.

"Reversing the decline of this endangered species will need collaboration between a whole host of different skills in support of willing landholders who are committed to preserving a cherished part of the Wombeyan district's wildlife," he said.

"The strength of this project lies in its people: landholders, volunteers, scientists and partners FAME and GER, working side by side. Together, we're not just helping the Southern Greater Glider; we're rebuilding the forests they depend on. creating living, resilient landscapes that can endure in a changing climate," states Tracy McNamara, CEO of FAME.

The project is now seeking expressions of interest from local landholders interested in hearing more about the project and potentially getting involved.

"The process is simple," says Mary Bonet. "People simply need to contact me and I will add them to a list of passionate locals interested in being involved and arrange a follow up site visit to discuss how they might get involved."