The Lake Eyre Basin Rangers have been busy helping Bush Heritage Freshwater Ecologist Pippa to fence key springs at Edgbaston Reserve.
The specially designed fences are a project funded by the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and they restrict the movement of invasive Gambusia holbrooki fish during flooding events.
The Red-finned Blue-eye is a critically endangered fish species, found only within the Great Artesian Basin springs at Edgbaston Reserve in central Queensland. The greatest threat to the Red-finned Blue-eye is the presence of the introduced mosquito-fish, Gambusia.
Red-finned Blue-eye are unable to co-exist with the predatory Gambusia and have disappeared from Gambusia colonised springs. As eradication of Gambusia from Edgbaston is not achievable with current knowledge, preventing movement of Gambusia between springs is a key strategy to ensure the survival of the Red-finned Blue-eye.
Despite soaring temperatures and rainfall events two more springs were fenced, which means two more Red-finned Blue-eye populations are now protected.
This is no small feat considering each fence needs to be buried 30cm underground to ensure it can withstand powerful floodwaters.
Thank you to the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund for funding this essential project and the Lake Eyre Basin Rangers for their fantastic work.
Funding for this project has been provided by:
The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund
The Queensland Government Nature Assist Program through an
Everyone's Environment Grant
Freddy, Leroy, Kieran and Pippa. 
(Left to right) Jodie, Nick, Leroy, Darren and Freddy digging the fence in. 
Pippa, Leroy and Darren 
