General News
27 February, 2023
Concerns raised for local threatened species
A local environmentalist group has expressed deep concern about the future of threatened species in the region — with members rallying to raise awareness before it’s too late. The Maryborough Field Naturalists Club (MFNC) is directing the...
A local environmentalist group has expressed deep concern about the future of threatened species in the region — with members rallying to raise awareness before it’s too late.
The Maryborough Field Naturalists Club (MFNC) is directing the community’s attention towards three at-risk species in the Central Goldfields Shire and beyond.
Listed in the Victorian Government’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988, the Yarra Gum tree is classified as Critically Endangered while the Powerful Owl and the Brush-tailed Phascogale are both Vulnerable.
“We are aware as a group that if people don’t step up and recognise things are threatened, they won’t be here in time to come,” MFNC secretary Barbara Thomson said.
“Things like the Yarra Gum and the Powerful Owl, they’re important to our quality of life as well as for the well-being of our habitat.”
Found only in a few locations in Victoria including close to the shire boundaries, the Yarra Gum has gone unnoticed in the community according to a statement released by the MFNC.
The tree can grow to a medium-large size with large, wavy glossy green leaves — lack of local recognition of this extremely rare tree in the region is “somewhat puzzling” the club said.
Moving down to the other species on the list, MFNC said an Action Statement was established under the 1988 Act to guide the management of Australia’s largest owl — requiring that specific protection be provided for the habitat of the state’s Powerful Owl.
Part of that specific protection is the conservation of large trees with hollows that act as nesting sites for the bird.
The club said the final species causing concern was the Brush-tailed Phascogale, a rat-like carnivorous marsupial, that can still be seen in the forested country near Beaufort, the Pyrenees and Maryborough — however, numbers have dwindled due to threats like habitat destruction, reduction in prey species, and predation by foxes, domestic and feral cats.
“It’s like a domino effect. If something dies out that’s in our environment it will affect many other species whether they be tiny, little or big creatures,” Ms Thomson said.
“They’re all part of our food-chain and we need to protect our world as it is because it’s going to disappear if we don’t.
“We want the community to be aware of what’s happening and so when they speak up they can speak in support.”