Will Camden’s wombats come out to play when a project to help them ends this Saturday.
Flaps installed at more than 50 wombat burrows in and around the Camden Airport site will be removed by volunteers this Saturday afternoon.
This will be followed at dusk by spotlighting across the site to see if they can locate some of the wombats that have benefited from the project.
Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) in partnership with Greater Sydney Local Land Services (GS-LLS) and Camden Airport joined forces for the Conserving Camden’s Wombats Project.
Over the last six months, CVA has been assisting Local Land Services to treat a wombat population at Camden Airport for mange.
Mange can be debilitating for wombats and eventually leads to a slow and painful death.
A dedicated group of volunteers has been applying treatment via the installation and maintenance of the burrow flaps and collecting critical data on the extent of mange within the wombat population.
The volunteers first mapped more than 50 burrows on the 196 hectare site, then constructed and installed burrow flaps that apply treatment when the wombats moved in and out of their burrows.
“CVA has been maintaining the burrow flaps with the assistance of volunteers since April 2017, and now we hope that this population will have relief from what can be a harsh condition that can prove fatal to our enigmatic wombats,” says Adam Woods, a regional manager of CVA.
Peter Ridgeway, a senior biodiversity officer with Greater Sydney Local Land Services, instigated the project after noticing a decline in local wombat populations.
[social_quote duplicate=”no” align=”default”]“Wombats are important for maintaining a healthy environment,’’ Mr Ridgeway said.[/social_quote]
“Their burrows provide refuge for other animal species and improve soil health.
“When monitoring indicated wombats had disappeared from many areas of Western Sydney during the last decade, we realised that we had to do more to care for the populations that are still here,” he said.
The project has revealed the broad range of animals that use the wombat burrows and freshly overturned soil, with four bird species recorded, as well as swamp wallabies, eastern grey kangaroos, wallaroos, echidnas, a lace monitor, and even a brown snake.
“This illustrates just how important wombats are to our landscape and the service they provide to a range of animals in the ecosystem,” says Mr Woods.
Lee de Winton, CEO of Camden Airport, said, “This was a wonderful opportunity for Camden Airport to partner with CVA and GS-LLS on the project, as it builds on the conservation efforts that we are already undertaking.
“The staff at Camden Airport will also be involved in monitoring the success of the wombat mange treatment and helping to facilitate future conservation efforts.”
This project was made possible with the support of a Coca-Cola Landcare Australia partnership grant.
