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Back from the Brink
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Back from the Brink
The Back from the Brink project is a major conservation effort focused on protecting four of the Hills and Fleurieu region’s most threatened native species: the southern bell frog, Murray hardyhead, hooded plover, and western beautiful firetail.
Each of these species is facing serious challenges due to habitat loss, climate change, predators, and other threats. This five-year project brings together ecologists, local communities, schools, volunteers, and partner organisations to give these species a better chance of survival.
How we will bring them back from the brink
The southern bell frog became locally extinct in the lower-Murray during the Millenium Drought. Following on from a previous project, they will be bred in captivity and re-introduced to managed sites, attempting to re-establish wild populations in the region, in partnership with the local community of Clayton Bay, Nature Glenelg Trust and Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board.
The Murray hardyhead is a small native fish, once common throughout the Murray Basin, it is now in serious decline. An existing breeding program will be expanded across a series of waterbodies, such as dams, to supplement wild populations in the long-term via a partnership with Nature Glenelg Trust and Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board.
Photo: G Schmida
Hooded plover
The hooded plover is Australia’s most threatened beach-nesting bird. Work will continue to support the fantastic work of volunteers and partner organisations to protect breeding sites, raise public awareness and monitor populations.
The western beautiful firetail is a highly threatened closed-shrubland bird, with population estimates suggesting as few as 50 adults may remain in the region. The species is area-sensitive and each pair requires large areas of habitat to persist. Following on from previous projects, large areas of critical new habitat will continue to be created through revegetation to support the expansion of the population.
This project is funded by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and delivered by Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.
Background - Nature Heritage Trust funding for projects in the Hills and Fleurieu
Landscapes Hills and Fleurieu is recognised as a regional delivery partner to deliver practical on-ground projects to support environmental protection, sustainable agriculture and natural resource management. Projects will address pressures facing our natural resources, including climate change, habitat loss and invasive species. Activities will also support First Nations participation and encourage farmers to accelerate the uptake of climate-smart, sustainable agricultural practices.
