Conservation
At any one time Hunter Wetlands Centre is engaged in many projects.
We are constantly seeking grants and donations to help us undertake conservation and sustainability projects and improve visitor experience of our Wetlands.
- Threatened Species
- Predator-Proof Fence
- Hunter Wetlands Centre Nursery
- Australian Government 20m Trees Project
- NSW Environmental Trust – restoring 3 hectares of freshwater wetlands & protect threatened waterbirds
THREATENED SPECIES
The Hunter Wetlands Centre is home to many threatened species including the Green and Golden Bell Frog, the Magpie Goose, the Black-necked Stork and Stephens Banded Snake.
AUSTRALASIAN BITTERN
Once common in the Hunter Region, loss of habitat and the threat from feral animals has made the life of this shy bird a test of survival.
PREDATOR-PROOF FENCE
After a quarter of a century, and thousands of hours of volunteer work, we have completed our predator-proof fence! A 3.6 km fence has been built to stop predators from entering this new 40 ha sanctuary. Introduced predators, such as foxes and cats, are one of the biggest threats to our native wildlife. When all existing feral animals in the sanctuary are removed we believe this will create the largest fox-free sanctuary along the densely populated eastern seaboard of Australia.
HWCA hopes the wildlife sanctuary will be an asset for conservation organisations and ecologists to re-introduce wildlife that has become rare or locally extinct.
Thanks to almost $20,000 in funding from the Australian Government’s Green Army Program and $15,935 from NSW Community Building Partnership Program to install two new solar-powered automatic electric gates for the fence to ensure gates close after use, and a strong partnership with Conservation Volunteers Australia, the last 480 metre-long stretch of fence has been installed along Ironbark Creek. This enables us to effectively exclude feral predators for the first time since the first stage of fencing was installed in 1991.
Foxes, cats and dogs can no longer simply walk or swim into our wildlife sanctuary. The good news is we are already seeing more evidence of bandicoots, two pairs of Black Swans successfully raised their fox-prone cygnets, and we are successfully eradicating foxes living in the sanctuary.
The fence was officially launched on Thursday 14 December 2017.
HUNTER WETLANDS CENTRE NURSERY
The nursery grows 200 different local providence plants and all seed and cuttings are collected on site. The collection of seeds and cuttings is a very important function, especially those cuttings for species that are difficult to propagate from seed. Under the guidance of the nursery volunteers the capacity of the nursery has increased to more than 100,000 plants per year.
Our nursery specialises in local providence Australian native plants species ranging from canopy trees to understory trees, shrubs, grasses and water/wetland plants.
The Hunter Wetlands Centre Australia has a specific environmental management system (EMS) which defines the best practice and procedures. We manage the potential impact of our activities on the environment by channeling the watering system water through a water course full of native grasses to leach out any contaminates like proteins, harmful nutrients and other chemicals that are caused by the use of fertilizers. The Nursery Manager and Hunter Wetlands CEO are responsible for the maintenance of the EMS.
Plant Sales
We have a wide range of native plants in stock, from tube stock to 20 cm pots. We are equipped to supply large commercial orders for projects but also welcome smaller orders of around 40 plants. For special orders, the lead time from collecting the required seed to when the plants are ready to be planted is approx 6 months.
A selection of plants is available for sale at the Visitors Centre.
Nursery Contact
Kenneth Bayliss
