THE Western Port Biosphere Foundation and Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park are seeking public support for a three-year joint project to ensure healthier and more resilient wildlife populations.
The two organisations aim to build a network of naturelinks, or wildlife corridors, within the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The links will provide safe pathways for native animals through and between significant areas of native ecosystems, and will build on the work done by the Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation group, and the Mornington Peninsula, Western Port and Bass Coast Landcare Networks and other Landcare and Friends groups, as well as councils. Naturelinks help native flora and fauna to maintain more diverse and healthy gene pools and reduce the risk of animal injury and death from navigating human infrastructure and activities like roads.
The project will turn important genetic research on local koala populations conducted over the past year by the Biosphere Foundation’s Kelly Smith, who will play an integral role in ensuring her findings translate into effective prioritisation and planning for the naturelink developments.
Western Port Biosphere CEO Mel Barker said the collaboration with Moonlit Sanctuary was an exciting new phase in the partnership, which began with contributions from the Biosphere Foundation to Moonlit Sanctuary’s successful program to save the Orange Bellied Parrot.
“As science-based organisations, we are committed to ensuring our research translates into tangible outcomes for the maintenance of biodiversity and the restoration of healthy habitat and the populations of native animals it supports,” she said. “While we have some core funding, public donations through our ‘Join the Dots for Nature’ campaign will enable us to construct a more extended network of naturelinks.”
Moonlit Sanctuary’s founder and director Michael Johnson said the science for saving species was well developed and being proven by projects already under way, such as the steady recovery of threatened Orange Bellied Parrot populations.
“This type of project requires long-term vision and commitment, including community support. This can be financial, but also take the form of informed selection of plants and habitat development in our own backyards,” he said.
“Everyone can own and contribute to naturelinks in their own way, which is what makes this a truly grass roots community effort.”
The Western Port Biosphere includes the whole of the Mornington Peninsula and overlaps the cities of Frankston and Casey, the shires of Cardinia and Bass Coast, as well as the entire Western Port marine zone, including French Island, Phillip Island and internationally acclaimed Ramsar wetlands. Ultimately, this and other partnerships with local Landcare Victoria divisions, aim to establish a naturelinks’ network connecting the entire Biosphere Reserve.
The Mornington Peninsula and the Western Port Biosphere Reserve are part of a global UNESCO network, connected to 738 Biosphere Reserves across 134 countries. The Biosphere Reserve is one of only five in Australia, and the only one in south-eastern Australia.
To support the project and donate go to biosphere.org.au
First published in the Mornington News – 25th June 2024
