A SUCCESSFUL funding application will allow a project that aims to educate people on the conservation of the Mallee emu-wren and other threatened native birds to become a reality.
The Threatened Species Conservancy-led project plans to support community reconnection post-pandemic by delivering interactive community information sessions on conserving habitats for threatened species.
The initiative has been awarded $10,000 through the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal Strengthening Rural Communities program.
Until recently, the Mallee emu-wren was confined to the Mallee in north-west Victoria, and the Murray Mallee region of eastern South Australia.
In Victoria, Mallee Emu-wrens occur in the Murray–Sunset, Hattah-Kulkyne and Wyperfeld national parks and while they became extinct in South Australia after bushfires in 2014, some have been reintroduced.
Mallee emu-wrens occur in among dense stands of Spinifex Triodia in mature mallee woodlands which have remained unburnt for at least 15 years.
They have also been recorded in low, semi-arid, mallee–heathland.
FRRR’s Jill Karena said there was an increasing need for the organisation to fill gaps in areas that may have previously relied on funding from government incentives or programs or support from local businesses.
“The SRC program is flexible and open year-round, meaning it can lean in when government and other agencies lean out,” she said.
“This access to continued funding opportunities is especially vital in communities that are moving beyond the immediate threats and response to natural disasters and other shocks.”
In addition to the 129 initiatives awarded grants, there were a further 85 funding-ready projects, requesting more than $900,000, that FRRR did not have the funds to support.
