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Success

In celebrating success in nature conservation, it helps to recognise the value of small steps, subtle attitude changes, a few more connections.

In northern Victoria, the ever-enthusiastic Steve Wilson describes community programs that build cooperation and connectivity – and the parrots, finches, frogs and waterbirds that benefit. The post-Yasi mahogany glider rescue effort is another example of cooperation, with Wildlife Queensland and DERM coordinating the efforts of researchers, volunteers, wildlife carers and indigenous rangers towards successful survival of these rare marsupials. Sheree Marris is on a campaign to open our eyes to the underwater wonders of Port Phillip Bay – and we can see why. Tyrone Lavery wonders how species successfully colonise Pacific islands – it doesn’t take much to get this wanderer out in the field. Little Barrier Island is steep, rugged and densely forested – just what many native New Zealand species prefer. Zoe Stone finds out more about this successful nature reserve – and how it might add to the success of the kakapo breeding program.

By Steve G Wilson

Bit by bit, Victorians are saving species by engaging communities and reconnecting habitats.

The superb parrot (Polytelis swainsonii) likes to move around in small flocks or family groups. The birds roost in box or river red gum woodlands and forage on flowers, buds, seeds, fruits and psyllids (lerps) in the foliage.

By Tyrone Lavery

Islands have attracted some of history’s greatest biologists
and generated some of our most important theories in ecology
– and, they are wonderful places to explore.

Take to the air on an eastward flight from the east coast of Australia and you won’t see much from your window except the marvellous enormity of the Pacific Ocean. Maybe, if you’re sharp-eyed and lucky, you’ll catch glimpses of tiny islands, miniscule specks in the vast expanse of blue.

By Saren Starbridge

Thank goodness for friends, but the best protection is preparation.

Cyclone Yasi, which crossed the coast at Mission Beach around midnight to 1am on 3 February 2011, was a Category Five – the most severe – and it struck near the heart of the already compromised habitat of the endangered mahogany glider.

With Sheree Marris

If you live or travel Down Under and want to get underwater, where should you go, and why?

Great Barrier Reef or Port Phillip Bay? The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is wonderful, but – only 15 percent of the species found there are endemic to the GBR. In Port Phillip Bay (PPB), and along the south coast of Australia, more than 82 percent of the species are endemic. A lot of what you can see
on the GBR, you can see elsewhere, but most of what you can see in PPB and along thesouth coast, you cannot see anywhere else in the world. And it’s right on the front step of Melbourne, one of Australia’s major cities.

with Zoe Stone

It’s a steep and enthralling learning curve on one of New Zealand’s most important nature refuges and the rare and endangered species it supports.

Little Barrier may not be everyone’s idea of paradise. The island is 2817ha of fiercely steep cliffs, peaks and gorges, the eroded and densely forested remnants of a volcano that rose about 2.4 million years ago out of New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf some 80km north-east of Auckland. It was known as Hauturu to the Maori who based much of their occupation at two tiny patches of level terrain: Te Maraeroa, at the island’s south-west corner and Hingaia Point in the north-east.

By Lee K. Curtis

Parrots (Psittacidae) and cockatoos (Cacatuidae) are both in the order Psittaciformes, characterised by a curved beak, and two forward- and two backward-facing toes. A preference for grasping food with the left foot has been observed. Parrots are widespread throughout the tropics and much of the southern hemisphere; cockatoos are found mainly in the Australasian region.

• Mahogany Gliders
• Melbourne Down Under
• Island Biogeography

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