General News
13 June, 2025
BARRY'S CORNER: Fence or not
Wildlife protection areas are appearing all over the country in a desperate attempt by concerned citizens to slow down or stop any more loss of valuable species.
Blocks of bush across the nation have caught the eye of birds, mammals and reptile interested people who have formed trusts, foundations, and put an enormous amount of work into the project.
Now there is a fair bit of valuable, heritage bushland under the enthusiastic volunteers who study, research, maintain, and clear of weeds and pests.
This builds on past decisions to support any national park by looking after biodiversity in a variety of conditions.
Besides national parks, some private land owners have made decisions to negotiate with the Trust for Nature to have a legally binding covenant placed on various blocks of bush within a farm.
Then there is interest from universities, corporate entities, banks, and others, with a chance to invest in carbon reduction processes.
Protection of biodiversity is the start, and obvious to have it decimated by cats and foxes so any gains in bird numbers will be reduced by these efficient pests.
The question faced by the owners is how to protect the local species and at present the answer is to build a cat-proof fence, and this is a ridiculous amount of money to install and maintain.
There are many kilometres of fort type fences holding cats and foxes at bay.
The constant level of maintenance required is astronomical and costly.
It seems smarter to engage the neighbours and hold regular pest eradication.
It is in everyone's interest in having a pest-free bushland.
There are some useful fence designs on the go, and a fair bit of experience to make it happen.
There is a challenge to rewild the property, and this takes some doing.
Considering the lack of the government's interest in many of these reserves, it is surprising they are still able to operate.
Generally, it is the volunteers who tend to keep the show on track, as is often the case.
The community cannot afford to supply the fences but there needs to be better co-operation of the permits.
I think this area of the debate needs a lot of work to increase the population of protected species.
Some of the animals are dangerously close to extinction and need all the help they can get.