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National freight carrier lends support to NSW Landcare group’s post-bushfire rehabilitation project
New South Wales Landcare’s community collaboration is rescuing threatened glossy black cockatoos following the 2019 bushfire devastation.
Pitching its support to the initiative, national freight operator Northline has moved the nesting tubes from Western Australia to the Byron Hinterland.
The collaboration on this rehabilitation project has been headed by Wilson’s Creek Huonbrook Landcare member Margaret Hall.
“The 2019 bushfires destroyed much of Glossy Black-Cockatoos habitat, including food sources, that they rely on,” Hall says.
“With funding from the Landcare Led Bushfire Recovery Grants Program and the efforts of Northline, we have been able to install 25 artificial hollows to help provide habitat support for the cockatoos.”
Northline CEO Craige Whitton says they were proud to have lent their support to Wilsons Creek Huonbrook Landcare in shipping the nesting tubes from Western Australia to the Byron Hinterland.
“Northline saw this as a way to provide practical support to the project by transporting cockatoo nesting tubes from Perth to North-East New South Wales and helping support bushfire recovery activities for Wilsons Creek Huonbrook Landcare and the Glossy Black-Cockatoo in NSW,” Craige says.
The Landcare-led Bushfire Recovery project has been supported by the Australian Government’s Bushfire Recovery Program for Wildlife and their Habitat.
“The hollows are now installed at a number of scientifically selected sites where the Glossies are known to feed,” Hall says.
“Thanks to Northline we were able to provide a choice of new breeding hollows close to the Glossies’ food trees.
“We will now monitor their use to learn what works and what doesn’t, so we can hopefully see a successful breeding event and continue to see this majestic species continue for future generations.”
But the road wasn’t easy for the work to begin to support the species.
“Unfortunately, in North-eastern New South Wales, to date no one has yet succeeded in encouraging Glossies to even consider artificial hollows for breeding,” she says.
“So, we decided to use three different styles of artificial hollows to see which style they might prefer.”
“One favoured choice was the ‘Cockatube’, which was developed in Western Australia.
“Our major challenge lay in that we needed them shipped from Western Australia to New South Wales but with COVID shutting down the borders all the companies who had given us quotes to freight them either had tripled their prices or just weren’t doing it at all.
“We were ready to give up or looking at having to change our project completely.
“It was devastating,” she says.
That was before Northline stepped in to support the efforts.
“My brother had a contact at Northline, so I asked if they might consider taking our shipment from Perth to the Byron hinterland, and what would it cost,” she adds.
“Not only did they say yes, but after hearing that it was for a fire affected species, they offered to ship it for free.”