Twenty-five four-wheel driving enthusiasts, from the combined clubs of the NSW & ACT Four Wheel Drive Association, spent the weekend working alongside NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) staff helping to rehabilitate 160 hectares of bushland near Burraga. The parcel of land known as The Glen, located within the Abercrombie State Conservation Area, is a popular location for both people and wildlife.
“The Abercrombie Reserve is such a diverse area, it has so much to offer 4WD enthusiasts,” says Lee Dunstan, President of the Black Diamond Recreational 4WD Club.
“It’s great that we could help out this weekend and give back a little,” he says.
Lee & Nicole Dunstan from the Black Diamond Recreational 4wd Club
Home to gliders, Booroolong frogs and the Macquarie Perch, the planting of 400 food trees and shrubs will enhance habitat, reduce erosion and improve water quality in the area. The trees will provide an important food resource for several glider populations as well as other nectar-feeding birds, bats and mammals.
“These animals, many of which are threatened species, depend on ready access to flowering shrubs and trees throughout the year,” says Mary Bonet, Coordinator of the Kanangra-Boyd to Wyangala (K2W) conservation partnership.
“While neighbouring Abercrombie River National Park is the largest intact patch of open forest on the NSW Central Tablelands, the Abercrombie Reserve is in poorer shape having suffered the impacts of various land uses over time.
“The loss of flowering shrubs and hollow-bearing trees puts species such as gliders at risk of extinction from the local area, so repairing habitat and planning for future resilience is really important,” Mary says.
Jules Bros, Kanangra Area Ranger with NPWS, agrees saying it was fantastic to have the 4WD groups embracing the conservation cause.
“It’s a social club with a strong emphasis on families and environmentally sound practises. It really demonstrates their interest in taking care of the bush and the natural environment,” she says.
The Black Diamond Recreational 4WD Club’s efforts are part of a wider relationship between the NPWS and the NSW & ACT Four Wheel Drive Association which has seen the clubs help maintain camping areas and participate in conservation activities across the State.
The community planting day was part of a range of projects aiming to restore and re-connect habitat in the Kanangra-Boyd to Wyangala (K2W) supported by Taronga Zoo, Boeing, the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife, the NSW Environmental Trust and Local Lands Services.
