Community Action

People are now the key to environmental conservation and recovery. Community groups, non-government organisations, individuals and government agencies all work to collectively protect native plants and animals, and to enhance the environment so natural systems may survive and recover.

There are many layers of contribution to the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of Australian landscapes, from national plans and government initiatives to individual landholders. These notes refer to those involved with programs to safeguard Kangaroo Island glossy-black cockatoos and the southern brown bandicoot in the region in which ‘Banjo Frog’s Concert Spectacular’ is set, the lower Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroos Island.

All across Australia there are regional organisations dedicated to the sustainable management of natural resources like native vegetation and fauna, soil and water. The Hills and Fleurieu and the Kangaroo Island Landscape Boards provide leadership in their respective regions, hosting positions such as the Glossy-Black Recovery Coordinator, Regional Ecologists and Biosecurity Officers who plan, coordinate and implement on-ground activities for conservation and pest/threat management. Board staff are often key players in linking local communities with organisations and programs at the national and state level.

Funds and personnel are needed for tasks as varied as collecting seed, raising and planting seedlings, fencing and pest and weed control, as well as monitoring the number and location of priority species. Groups like World Wide Fund for Nature, Nature Foundation SA, BioR and the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Network have been active on Kangaroo Island to expand the area of habitat suitable for glossy-black cockatoos – and their numbers more than doubled as a result. Bushfires in 2019-20 destroyed half of their feeding areas highlighting the need for ‘insurance’ habitat across the Island and on the mainland.

On the Fleurieu Peninsula, Greening Australia and Trees for Life have been active in revegetation programs aimed at species recovery on public and private lands. The groups have also been conduits for engagement with the wider community, such as Greening Australia linking with the WOMADelaide music festival to offset the festival’s carbon emissions through conservation-focused tree planting in the region.

Groups like Landcare provide networks for tackling large programs and give residents of all communities an opportunity to be involved in practical measures where they can see the benefit of their labours. In addition, countless individual landholders have also been involved from providing land for revegetation programs or developing and implementing their own revegetation plans. They are also involved in weed and pest control and monitoring animals on their lands.

Community groups like the Cape Jervis Coastal Community Group, COOTS (Conservation of Our Threatened Species), and the Cape Jervis and Delamere (now Cape Jervis) Progress Association have been vehicles for local people and other supporters, including the Rapid Bay Primary School, to contribute through organised revegetation programs. Landcare Australia has also partnered with 4 Pines Brewing Co to establish drooping sheoaks and ground cover plants at the southern end of the Fleurieu Peninsula, close to Kangaroo Island.

The Bandicoot Recovery Action Group (BRAG) is a volunteer group that helps monitor and understand the distribution of Southern Brown Bandicoots. BRAG is working with partners on the Bandicoot Superhighway Project that aims to save the Southern Brown Bandicoot from extinction, with a long-term vision to foster a ‘highway’ of interconnected habitat throughout the Mount Lofty Ranges.

Friends of Parks (FOP) groups are independent groups that work closely with SA Department for Environment and Water (DEW) and SA National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to support the protection of flora and fauna in parks and reserves. The Friends of Deep Creek Conservation Park have undertaken revegetation work to grow Glossy Black Cockatoo food trees, and Friends of Newland Heads Conservation Park are working to protect habitat for Southern Brown Bandicoots.

Language is an important element of culture and Easter Bilby’s Friends hopes that, whenever possible, Traditional names for referenced plants and animals will be included, not only to acknowledge the original custodians of the lands in which the story is set, but to also help in maintaining and celebrating their culture. Kaurna and Ngarrindjeri language custodians have generously shared their language in Banjo Frog’s Concert Spectacular. For more information on the Kaurna language see Kaurna Warra (the language of the Adelaide Plains).

If you would like to learn more about the plants, animals and the people behind this story, please check out their websites or social media feeds, Contact Us, or help promote the Easter Bilby message of ‘hope and new life’ through the Easter Bilby’s Friends books and merchandise.

To find a community environmental group in the Hills and Fleurieu region see the Environmental Community Groups Map.