Wildlife homes among the gum trees

Local wildlife can rest easier thanks to a new nest box installation and monitoring project across 3 parks in Division 7.

The program involved securing 44 nest boxes in suitable elevated locations in Forestdale at Paradise Park, Lincoln Green and Greenwood Lakes.

Forestdale is an important part of the protected Flinders-Karawatha biodiversity corridor and has suitable habitat for threatened species including greater gliders.

This regionally significant corridor is one of the largest remaining continuous stretches of open Eucalyptus forest in South East Queensland.

The nest boxes are various designs and sizes and provide potential habitat for many different hollow dependant wildlife species such as sugar and squirrel gliders, possums, microbats, parrots, kookaburra, owls, wood ducks, and native bees.

The $24,000 environmental initiative was funded by the Division 7 Local Infrastructure Program Division 7 Councillor Tim Frazer says as part of this funding the nest boxes will be monitored twice a year for 3 years to record which animals are using the boxes and to undertake any required maintenance.

‘The provision of additional nesting opportunities for fauna enhances the biodiversity of the area both locally and regionally and is a great boost for our environment,’ Cr Frazer says.

Council runs free workshops to help residents build their own nest boxes and provides other wildlife-safe backyard support through the Environmental Conservation Partnership program.

For more details go to Council’s website logan.qld.gov.au and search for ‘nest box’.

In another environmental initiative for Division 7, works are continuing in Tovey Park at Boronia Heights to restore areas along the waterway, which is one of the headwaters for Scrubby Creek.

The project includes weed removal, mulching and the planting of native trees, shrubs and grasses to help stabilise the creek bank.

PHOTO AT TOP: Cr Tim Frazer with one of the 44 nest boxes to be installed in Forestdale.