Fish, frogs, flora and fresh flowing water

There have been 7 key locations throughout NSW selected for threat reduction activities and habitat restoration and rehabilitation as a part of the Fish, frogs, flora and fresh flowing water project. Two of these are within the Central Tablelands region:

• Sewells creek
• Abercrombie river.

Project objectives

This project will improve and protect riparian environments in the Central Tablelands. This includes protection for:  

• Macquarie perch (a threatened species)
• Booroolong frog (an endangered species)
• Box-gum woodland (an endangered ecological community (EEC))
• a range of threatened bird species.

Project background

This project needed to combine primary production with biodiversity conservation with on-ground works.  

The key threats targeted in this project were:

• the amphibian chytrid fungus
• weed infestation (particularly blackberry and willow)
• erosion caused by inappropriate stock management and feral pigs.

Project delivery

Extensive baseline research and extensive community engagement has been undertaken by Local Land Services, Office of Environment and Heritage, and Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development over the past 25 years at the target sites.  

Current delivery includes:

• feral species control and eradication (both flora and fauna)
• ecological monitoring
• community engagement
• captive breeding and translocation (Taronga Zoo to selected release sites)
• habitat restoration.

Work underway

• Aerial pest species control and eradication in conjunction with National Parks and Wildlife Services.  
• Reducing feral pig numbers as they are known to degrade riverine systems with their bioturbation activities.  
• Using a drone to take follow up footage of where works were initially undertaken to compare sites with before and after footage to see improvements.  
• October 2022 saw the release of the Sewell’s Creek Local Area Management Plan for the Booroolong Frog. This plan is a voluntary contribution by local landholders to manage their environment for the benefit of the local Booroolong Frog population.  
• This will also include some flume restoration works undertaken by Central Tablelands Local Land Services to improve water quality in Booroolong habitat in Essington Forest.  
• In May 2023, local Heritage Schools from the Central Tablelands were invited to Abercrombie Caves to hear from speakers about endangered species and what can be done for them.  

Local Land Services also assists the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and National Parks and Wildlife Services with monitoring of the target species throughout NSW.

How to get involved

Landholders and community can get involved in this project by:

• attending the Local Land Services hosted SoS events  
• eradicating feral species
• restoring and rehabilitating on-property riparian areas
• species monitoring.

Funding and partnerships

This project has been funded by the Environmental Trust SoS grant program. Local Land Services’ project partners include:

• Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development  
• Office of Environment and Heritage  
• National Parks and Wildlife Services  
• Taronga Zoo.