Watch the trailer for the 2023/24 Annual Impact Report, click here
Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), a global leader in conservation, today released the 2023/24 edition of its Annual Impact Report and Ecohealth Reports.
Over the 12 months to 28 February 2024, AWC took action to improve the trajectory of 10 threatened and/or locally extinct species by translocating 562 animals into new safe havens. The conservation leader delivered Australia’s largest non-government fire management program across 7.6 million hectares and took on the fight against ferals by removing over 10,000 feral predators and herbivores from sensitive ecosystems.
Tim Allard, AWC’s Chief Executive Officer, said incredible progress has been made in safeguarding the future of Australian wildlife and landscapes.
“Despite environmental challenges over the 12 months, several major projects came to fruition including the world’s first Northern Bettong reintroduction at Mt Zero-Taravale Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland and the first wildlife surveys at our new Waulinbakh Wildlife Sanctuary in NSW,” said Mr Allard. “Those in the field are working hard in tough conditions to fight the battle against ferals, fires and floods. Having boots-on-the-ground is only possible due to the funding from supporters and we’re grateful to our team and supporters for making this conservation work possible.”
Highlights from AWC’s 2023/24 Annual Impact Report include:
- The translocation of 10 species to AWC owned and/or managed safe havens including the Northern Bettong, Golden Bandicoot, Burrowing Bettong, Plains Mouse, Shark Bay Bandicoot, Western Quoll (Chuditch), Central Rock-rat, Eastern Pygmy Possum, Bilby and Red-tailed Phascogale
- Delivery of Australia’s largest non-government fire management program across 7.6 million hectares of land which has reduced the extent of late dry season wildfires by 50%. At AWC’s Wongalara Wildlife Sanctuary in the Northern Territory, effective fire management has seen the extent of late dry season fire decrease by a staggering 90%
- More than 313,950 trap nights were conducted to monitor ecological health and track populations of wildlife at AWC sanctuaries and partnership areas. Monitoring included a mix of live traps, pit-falls, motion sensor cameras and acoustic recorders as well as trialling new environmental DNA (or eDNA) methods to detect and identify wildlife.
- Ecological health monitoring also led to the exciting discovery of species in areas in which they hadn’t been recorded before. New species added to AWC’s inventory list included the Dusky Hopping Mouse at Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary in NSW; the Northern Masked Owl at Artesian Range in the Kimberley; two new birds at Curramore Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland; and five new birds at Dakalanta Wildlife Sanctuary in South Australia. Fifteen new species were also added to the list at Ngalurrtju Aboriginal Land Trust including Bourke’s Parrot and the Night Skink while the Scaly-tailed Possum was detected at a number of new sites at Bullo River Station
- Commencing reconstruction of facilities at Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary following the largest flooding event on record in the Kimberley from ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie
- Rapidly progressing a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy which will maximise the resilience of wildlife and habitats under a changing climate.
In its third edition, the Annual Impact Report highlights AWC’s significant contribution to Australia’s wildlife and their habitats. The Ecohealth reports capture science data from AWC sanctuaries across the country.
The full Annual Impact Report can be accessed here and the Ecohealth reports here.
Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) is a global leader in conservation, providing hope to Australia’s wildlife with a science-informed, land management partnership model that delivers high impact results. AWC is a national leader in landscape scale conservation land management, reintroductions of threatened species and the establishment of feral predator-free areas.
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