THE WESTERN Port Biosphere Foundation and Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park are urging public support for a three-year joint project to ensure healthier and more resilient wildlife populations.
The two organisations aim to achieve this by building a network of nature links within the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. These are corridors of native habitat, which provide safe pathways for native animals through and between significant remaining areas of native ecosystems.
These corridors continue to build on the extensive work done by the Bass Coast Landcare Networks and other Landcare and Friends groups, Western Port, the Mornington Peninsula Koala Conservation group, and local Councils, all who seek to collaborate on and support this project.
Nature links 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 leverage crucial 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 nature link 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.
“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 nature links,” she said.
Moonlit Sanctuary’s Founder and Director, Michael Johnson, said the science and methods 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.
“Everyone can own and contribute to nature links in their own way, which is what makes this a truly grass roots community effort,” he said.
The Western Port Biosphere embraces the entire 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 nature links network connecting the entire Biosphere Reserve.
