Community Action

People are the key to environmental conservation and recovery. Environmental non-government organisations, community groups, governments, landowners, and individuals work together to control pests and weeds, and restore and reconnect habitat so native wildlife can recover.

Belle and Bea’s Beautiful New Home is located in the north-west corner of New South Wales (NSW) within Sturt National Park. It tells the story of a significant conservation initiative called “Wild Deserts.” The location is very remote, with no central settlement nearby. Even helpful neighbours and groups are far away. 

Wild Deserts is where collaborating partners (University of New South Wales (UNSW), NSW Parks and Wildlife Service, Ecological Horizons, the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, and traditional owners), are creating a safe haven for native fauna and flora. They do this by working to restore 40,000 hectares of natural, arid landscape through successful eradication of all wild rabbits, foxes, and feral cats from two dedicated areas of the park. Specialised feral-proof fencing stops the feral species from recolonising these areas.

To help restore the ecosystem, locally extinct mammals are being reintroduced over a ten-year period. These include the greater bilby, greater stick-nest rat, burrowing bettong, golden bandicoot, western barred bandicoot, crest-tailed mulgara, and western quoll. Many of these species had been absent from the area for over a hundred years and are threatened at the national/state level.

The NSW Parks and Wildlife Service (a directorate of the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water) has helped to create and manage ten feral-proof areas in NSW. Working in partnership with Wild Deserts, they contribute to the conservation of Sturt National Park by restoring natural ecological processes, a practice known as ‘rewilding.’ Volunteer opportunities for the Park can be found here. The NSW Parks and Wildlife Service also manage the accommodation and campsites within the Park.

You can donate to the Wild Deserts project, find volunteer opportunities and subscribe to their newsletter at their Get involved webpage. They are also on Facebook.

Wild Deserts safe haven builds on the work of Arid Recovery. They manage a large fenced reserve in South Australia, which also has bilbies. Information on volunteering with Arid Recovery or donating can be found at their Support Us webpage.

The greater bilby is a priority species as part of the Australian Government’s Threatened Species Action Plan (which can be found here). The plan aims to reduce the extinction risk of all priority species, and protect at least 30% of Australia. The plan outlines how individuals, community groups, First Nations peoples, and land managers can get involved, for example, by helping to control foxes and feral cats.

Eligible Threatened Species projects can apply for funding from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).

For more information about the organisations helping to increase bilby populations and manage the Safe Havens where bilbies have been reintroduced see the National Recovery Plan for the Greater Bilby Macrotis lagotis.

A state-level threatened species action plan has been developed by the NSW Government, called The Saving our Species (SoS) program. It has strategies for managing over 400 threatened species. You can help by becoming a volunteer or by volunteering online as a ‘digiVol.’

In nearby South Australia, the government has developed recovery plans for the species threatened at state-level. The Department of Environment and Water (DEW) has ‘Get involved’ information on jobs, volunteer opportunities, and grants.

Western Local Land Services (NSW government) help manage invasive species in the area (see the Western Regional Strategic Pest Animal Management Plan 2024-2028). As part of the Good Neighbours Program, they are currently controlling the invasive boxing glove cactus to stop its spread on private land around Sturt National Park.

A number of groups contribute to the wider conservation goals of Wild Deserts through reduction or management of feral animals and weeds.

Barrier Area Rangecare Group (BARG) is a community group providing sustainable landscape management around Tibooburra. They undertake pest control (wild rabbits, feral cats, foxes, wild dogs, wild goats, and pigs) and erosion control, as well as supporting habitat for endangered species, such as the dusky hopping mouse and fat-tailed gekko.

Indigenous groups are helping to conserve native species by care-taking the land. To see some of the projects First Nations people are undertaking in arid areas, see https://www.indigenousdesertalliance.com/members.

The Wadigali, Wangkumarra and Maljangapa People are the traditional custodians of the area where Belle and Bea’s Beautiful New Home is set. More information about the Wangkumarra can be found here https://www.wangkumarra.net/.

If you would like to get involved through on-ground activities, by joining a group, or by making a donation/bequest, please check out the websites mentioned above. To learn more about the people behind the story, you can Contact Us.

You can also help promote the Easter Bilby message of ‘hope and new life’ through the Easter Bilby’s Friends books and merchandise. Resources, including Information Sheets and Activity Sheets, are available on the Easter Bilby’s Friends website, along with Kits for teachers and libraries.