What we’re doing on the property
Volunteers regularly conduct monitoring and pest management work on Goonderoo to help protect threatened mammals that are vulnerable to invasive predators.
Volunteer John Wybrow conducting sandpad monitoring at Goonderoo. Photo Rebecca Diete.
One of our biggest tasks at Goonderoo is to help the shrubby woodlands regenerate – a task that’s made challenging by an introduced pasture crop – Buffel Grass.
Native to Africa and India, Buffel Grass was brought into Australia as a drought and fire-tolerant livestock feed. Since then it’s replaced native plants over large areas.
As well as dramatically increasing damage from fires, Buffel Grass burns so hot that it kills most native Australian plants. Even the fire-adapted ones.
We’re using strategic controlled grazing to keep the Buffel Grass at bay, which reduces the risk of intense fire and gives the native plants a chance to get established.
Managing fire and weeds helps us maintain habitat for mammals on the reserve, including Rufous Bettongs, Koalas, Bandicoots and Sugar Gliders.