Helping Australian Wildlife
We often find ourselves referring to Australia as a place of rich flora and fauna, that has an incredible abundance and diversity of species found no where else in the world.
And that it is.
It is also a place that has over 1,900 threatened animals and ecological communities under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
"Threatened" flora and fauna, means that is has a risk of becoming extinct in the future.
Australia's flora and fauna are significantly affected by 3 pressures:
Habitat loss
- Habitat destruction and fragmentation (the habitat becomes broken up) caused by clearing of land for urban development, agriculture and industry.
Immediate Impact:
- Direct mortality
- Animals lose their food, shelter and nesting sources.
Short-term Impact:
- Competition for resources in surrounding areas, often leads to starvation.
- Predation as animals are displaced and exposed.
- Low survival rate from stress endured.
Long-term Impact:
- Isolated populations, in-breeding and reduced genetic diversity.
- "Edge Effect" to remaining vegetation, poor quality habitat.
- Wildlife collision (hit by car) as animals spend time wandering the streets looking for a new home.
- Local or isolated extinctions.
Invasive species
- Introduction of plant and animal species, and diseases.
Native species can not evolve overnight to survive and live with invasive species.
Immediate Impact:
- Direct mortality to native species from predation from cats and foxes.
- Habitat degradation in the form of vegetation loss, over-grazing and soil erosion from herbivore species such as rabbits, pigs, goats and camels.
- Spread of new diseases.
Short-term Impacts:
- Ecological change caused by the domination of invasive weeds. They can alter fire regimes resulting in more intense and frequent fires.
- Loss of biodiversity caused by invasive animals, like introduced fish and the cane toad.
Long-term Impacts:
- Extinction of small to medium sized mammals. Cats (both domestic and feral) are estimated to kill 2.1 billion native animals every year!
- Irreversible changes to ecosystems being dominated by non-native species.
- Economic loss, it costs billions of dollars to combat invasive plants and animals.
Affects of climate change
- Climate change is a driver in species decline in the form of an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events.
Immediate Impact:
- Extreme bushfires
- Extreme heat waves
- Severe droughts
- Extreme flooding events
- Marine heatwaves and coral bleaching
Short-term Impact:
- Higher frequency of hotter days resulting in dehydration, heat stress and ultimately mass mortality (some species can't regulate their body temp in high temps).
- Decline in cool-season rainfall drying habitats and decreasing water availability for wildlife.
Long-term Impacts
- Sea level rise and coastal erosion.
- Biodiversity loss of native plants. caused by an unadaptable change in their survivable conditions that risks total ecosystem collapse.
- Lifecycle shifts threatening species abundances and habitat ranges.
- Increase in fire causing an increase in direct mortality and habitat destruction.
Cresswell ID, Janke T, Johnston EL (2021). Overview: Biodiversity. In: Australia State of the environment 2021, Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Canberra, https://soe.dcceew.gov.au/overview/environment/biodiversity, DOI: 10.26194/f1rh-7r05, ISBN: 978-0-646-86427-3
We know what you're thinking, what can we actually do to help Australian wildlife?
Well, we can all get involved - and it can start in our backyards!
Take a look at our poster below and see how many of these categories you feel like you can try tomorrow and which might require some thought for the future!
So now we know what you're thinking, what can we actually do to help Australian wildlife??
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Jump to: community & citizen science; protecting wildlife; create wild habitat; provide artificial habitat; change how you use lights ---- these can be linked to each section below
Community Events and Citizen Science
Cleaning up our ecosystems, participating in wildlife counts and volunteering
with wildlife and environmental groups!
Across Australia (and around the world) there are organised events that can get you involved in cleaning up and looking after our environment and ecosystems that we share with wildlife.
Litter collection/clean up events
Find your local clean up group or start your own in your community.
For example: Beach Patrol (VIC) or Coastal Waste Warriors (WA)
Be a hero! Take a little rubbish bag with you when you go on walks so you can pick up litter.
Environment/Ecosystems
Volunteer or find your local group with Landcare Australia
Find a project to get involved in with Conservation Volunteers Australia
Find a project, group or event with Australian Conservation Foundation
Volunteer through the Great Barrier Reef Foundation
Volunteer or join an event with Sea Sheppard
Wildlife conservation
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Find your local Wildlife Rescue group and volunteer your time! Visit Wildlife Heroes to find yours.
- Maybe you knit? Why not knit some "pouches" for these wildlife rescue organisations.
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Help monitor Sea Turtles in your region: Sunshine Coast; Ningaloo/Exmouth; West Pilbara; Mackay.
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Help monitor Australian wildlife online with Digi Vol by looking for animal sightings in footage taken with wildlife detection cameras
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Volunteer with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy or your local conservation group!
Participating in wildlife counts and recordings
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Support Australian frog research - record 20 seconds of frog calls for the Australian Museum with FrogID!
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Track the status of threatened Tasmanian species, join a survey with Nature Trackers.
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Participate in the annual Aussie Bird Count with BirdLife Australia! 20 minute bird survey, cool prizes up for grabs.
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Become a Platypus spotter and join the Platy-project
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Join the annual BioBlitz in November - an international period of intense biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within the Southern Hemisphere.
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Join the annual City Nature Challenge in April and take photos of wildlife, plants and fungi in your city.
Help prevent harm to wildlife
Cats are responsible for 2.1 billion native Australian animals annually. Report feral animal sightings
Reporting injured wildlife
Slow between dusk and dawn
Something about when to clip plants or hedges that are being used by nesting animals.
Create a wild habitat
Ponds, rocks, logs, fallen trees, tree hollows, creaks, native grasses
Plant native plants - ask your local council or conservation group if there is a plant species they woare encouraging more of or species specific plants
Minimise the use of chemicals and pesticides
provide artificial Habitat
What is an artificial habitat?
A structure man-made for the purpose of providing a safe area for wildlife to sleep, breed, hibernate and use as refuge from predators and extreme weather. Typically, artificial habitats would be used in an environment which has been changed or degraded – by humans, where there is no longer a suitable wild habitat.
Types of artificial habitats include possum boxes, bat boxes, bee and bug hotels and bird houses. They may also include artificial dens and burrows.
Artificial habitat structures can have a significantly positive impact on wildlife, and particularly have played an important role in conservation. They have been used by conservationists around the world in a variety of environments (including terrestrial, freshwater and marine), for a variety of fauna including reptiles, mammals, fish, birds and amphibians.
It’s important that the artificial habitats we provide are for our native Australian wildlife (rather than encouraging introduced species to move in).
We recommend checking with your local conservation or Landcare groups and/or Natural Resources or council departments if there are specific species you can cater for in your area or region, and ask for advice on designs that will support specific species.
Once you are ready, ensure your artificial habitat is ecologically constructed and designed, and correctly positioned within your targeted environment. Ensure you monitor the use of your artificial habitat, making sure the targeted (and native) species are using it.
Provide a water source - bird baths and low down drinking water with a stick
Artificial dens and burrows
Change how we use lights
Light bars or bright LED's for people who drive at night
Slow between dusk and dawn 65km/hr is recommended for driving at night in Tasmania. Find out if any other states have recommend slow zones or speed suggestions.
Change how we use lights - house and commercial lights to be on timers or sensors. Reference dark skies site.
Use torches with red filters/lights for spotlighting