2011 is set to be an exciting year here in the Scenic Rim

This year we managed to run a successful Wildlife Expo starting from zero dollars, but bringing in support from Scenic Rim Regional Council (they paid for Geckos Wildlife, and the deputy mayor arranged shelters and lent us his own PA system for the day) and organizations such as Logan and Albert Conservation Association, Birds Australia and Caldera Arts.

We are starting on more secure footing for next year's Expo, having just received a $5,500.00 grant from the Council to run the WIldlife Expo and associated workshops.

The Expo will be held mid-winter again next year,to avoid clashes with end-of-semester exams and hectic times or wildlife carers - exact date to be decided (please let us know any dates you know of that we should avoid: we have already eliminated school holidays and World Environment Day).

One of the workshops will be a glider workshop early in the year, to train locals how to detect and identify these animals, as we have five of the six Australian species right here in the Scenic Rim, but know very little about their exact distribution and where effort should most effectively be put into habitat enhancement and movement corridors. One project following on from this will involve setting up motion-sensing cameras where they are likely to be feeding, and we will also arrange some spotting nights and encourage others to observe and record in their own regions.

We are also planning surveys of other species throughout the year, with a view to setting up baseline monitoring of populations and determining where corridors are needed.

We did not receive the funding for quoll surveys this time around - maybe next time! We can still think about and plan ahead for it during 2011.

We have also been approached by LACA to discuss the needs within the region for helping injured and orphaned animals. Although this is not a major theme of WPSQ and is handled more specifically by other organizations such as WildCare, it does involve us in that:

animals are being directly killed, including species of concern such as koalas and quolls
joining in a publicity campaign against roadkill can help educate residents about our wildlife and assist planning for safe corridor routes
it doesn't hurt to point out to politicians and developers that local residents and visitors to our region (i.e. voters and customers) like to see wildlife in the vicinity and it can be distressing to them to see so many end up dead on the roads
by monitoring what is happening on our roads we can add to our knowledge of current distribution of wildlife species
although our major thrust is preservation of biodiversity, the suffering of individual animals is something we would all like to reduce

I had an interesting discussion a few weeks ago with Michael Anderson (team leader, environmental policy, Scenic Rim Regional Council). He is also concerned about wildlife rescue and care, and has offered a number of possible ways for council to assist, so we will be including him in our discussions early in the new year. I have as a result joined QWRC - I was already a member of Bat Conservation and Rescue, and also WildCare, but feel it is probably best to go through QWRC as the coordinating body for facilities and services to be shared by all groups. I would hope that QWRC and WPSQ Scenic Rim as well as other relevant groups will be able to work effectively together on this issue.

Scenic Rim WIldlife is now on Facebook, accessible from our http://scenicrimwildlife.org.au/ page, and we would like this to become far more interactive, as a means of communication between ourselves and other interested persons. So... please visit the site, 'like' us and contribute some comments.

Our first meeting for 2011 will be early January (time and date to be announced: check Facebook and our website, and I will also be sending out a notice)

Please let me know what involvement you might like with the Expo, workshops, fauna searches and discussions.

Meantime, have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Ronda Green, BSc(Hons)PhD Chair, Scenic Rim branch, Wildlife Preservation Society of Qld

Return to homepage