Garden for Wildlife

Project Profile

Issues

Garden for Wildlife (GfW) is a voluntary conservation program successfully launched in Alice Springs in March 2007. The scheme is an extension of the Land for Wildlife (LfW) program, targeting town blocks within the Alice Springs township. The Garden for Wildlife program was initiated because of increased interest by town block owners who wanted to join Land for Wildlife. Garden for Wildlife has also recently been launched in Tasmania through the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service. The Garden for Wildlife program encourages and facilitates private landholders, businesses and groups to conserve and improve native habitat and dependant wildlife on their town block using best practice NRM.

Project Detail

Garden for Wildlife (GfW) is a voluntary conservation program successfully launched in Alice Springs in March 2007. The scheme is an extension of the Land for Wildlife (LfW) program and targets town blocks within the Alice Springs township. The Garden for Wildlife program was initiated because of increased interest by town block owners who wanted to join Land for Wildlife. Garden for Wildlife has also recently been launched in Tasmania through the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service. The program is hosted as a not-for profit component of a local environmental consulting business supported by NRM grants and Alice Springs Town Council.

The Garden for Wildlife program encourages and facilitates private landholders, businesses and groups to conserve and improve native habitat and dependant wildlife on their town block using best practice natural resource management (NRM). Capacity building is done through workshops, an informative website, environmental assessments and personal advice on town blocks, newsletters, ongoing advice and access to the local conservation network.

Garden for Wildlife assists town block owners to enhance and protect biodiversity on their properties, thus increasing wildlife corridors and contributing to biodiversity conservation, enabling native flora and fauna to continue characterising the unique Central Australian landscapes.

Group members conduct short environmental assessments on each block and provide advice on how to integrate wildlife habitats with town block lifestyles. The program has developed detailed vegetation maps which indicate vegetation communities found within the Alice Springs township. The community can access these maps via the website. The vegetation and land unit maps enable members to identify native plant species that may have been present on their property before development and to identify the plant species that are well suited to the soils and landscape of particular land units.

Garden for Wildlife members are invited to participate in annual biodiversity surveys conducted across LfW member properties. GfW aims to educate the community how to carry out simple surveys on their properties as a self assessment method to gauge the success of their NRM activities.

The GfW program currently comprises a total of 137 town blocks, nearly 20 properties up from last year. This is an exceptional membership tally considering the short life of the program and is a positive indication of the enthusiasm for NRM by the Alice Springs Community. The program facilitates networking of like minded landholders who share skills and experiences. Focused workshops and newsletters raise awareness and provide valuable information related to weed and feral animal control, water conservation, fire management, revegetation and rehabilitation methods, fauna and flora identification, erosion control and weed & landscape management plans for town blocks.

The Garden for Wildlife program is one of 88 finalists in the National Landcare Awards to be announced in Canberra on 24 June 2010.  Commencing in 1991, the Awards celebrate the achievements of individuals and groups that make a valuable contribution to the land and coast where they live and work.

Photography

Garden for Wildlife