In order to keep up with the high volume of habitat being constructed at Frahns Farm, we’re building a 7km Herbivore Exclusion Fence to continue our cost-effective large-scale restoration works – and we need your help!
Next year, Bio·R has pledged to recreate another 20 hectares of habitat at Frahns Farm. However, we’ve run out of space within our current herbivore exclusion area. So, to continue our cost-effective large-scale restoration works in the Monarto region we need your help!
Bio·R is seeking to raise $210k to build a 7km fence to protect 200 ha of predominantly cleared land on the Eastern half of Frahns Farm and enable restoration works to save our declining species. One metre of fence costs $30 and protects about 285m2, which is slightly bigger than a tennis court!
Can you help us meet our goal by buying a metre or two of fencing?
Since European settlement, kangaroo numbers have increased across south-eastern Australia due to the clearance of woodland for pasture, an increase in watering points, and the extermination of dingoes, their main predator.
This has created an ecosystem imbalance and roos are now over-abundant in the region. They prefer to eat tender native seedlings, which hinders habitat regenerating naturally. This puts further pressure on declining woodland birds, like Diamond Firetails and Restless Flycatchers, to find food and shelter.
Early plantings of tubestock in individual guards at Frahns Farm showed that we needed a new approach to improve the scale and success of our habitat reconstruction. Firstly, guards were expensive and time consuming to install, so they limited our ability to upscale our plantings. Secondly, they were ineffective, as seedlings planted in both the standard green corflute guards or “Mallee Mesh” guards could not form their natural shape as they grew. The plants were constricted by the guard’s dimensions and any plants that grew through the guards were simply eaten by roos. Consequently, we could not grow habitat that was self-sustaining and resilient. Thirdly, we could not direct seed grasses and small herbs within our plantings, as they could not be protected from grazing kangaroos. This again restricted our ability to upscale our work and create a structurally diverse ecosystem from the ground to the tree canopy, which is necessary for creating habitat for wildlife.
By investing in a kangaroo-proof fence, we don’t have to guard each seedling that our community plants, saving thousands of hours and dollars, and we can grow more habitat by direct seeding native grasses and small plants. This enables us to effectively create a diverse woodland which will provide healthy, productive habitat for our native wildlife for many decades to come.
At 7 km long, the fence will protect 200 ha and will be tall enough to deter most jumping roos, with an apron on the ground to stop animals from digging under. The mesh spacing will still allow smaller animals to move through. Fenced exclosures are currently the most cost-effective method for protecting plants from roo herbivory at a large-scale.
Your donation will help cover labour and material costs required to construct a 7 km kangaroo-proof fence at Frahns Farm to protect 200 ha of predominantly cleared land. A donation of $30 buys a metre of fence and protects 285m2 from kangaroo grazing – that’s an area slightly bigger than a tennis court!
June 8-9, 15-16 & 22-23
