On ABC Adelaide Radio this morning Professor of Biology Chris Daniels bemoaned the loss of many small native birds in Adelaide due to the replacement by people of native vegetation with introduced species. He encouraged neighbours to replant their gardens with native species so that corridors could be provided for native birds.
As an example of the wildlife benefits of such connected gardens he cited the householders who have joined their native gardens from Upper Sturt to Mt George in the Adelaide Hills to provide a corridor for the survival of Southern Brown Bandicoots, an endangered species in the Hills.
I understand that the Victorian Gardens for Wildlife aims to provide corridor habitats for wildlife. It seems a broadening of schemes like this across urban areas of Australia, at least, would go some way to ameliorating the smothering of our natural landscapes with inappropriate housing development.
This sounds like a fantastic idea, Woko. That sort of idea has been mooted in NSW around tree planting to connect/ protect koala habitat but i am uncertain of its uptake and success at this time..
Sadly, Sue, I don't see evidence of people taking up Chris Daniel's idea. Yet. Quite the contrary, in fact, at least in Adelaide & its hinterland. In Mt Barker, 15 km from where I live, developers, aided & abetted by local & state governments, dominate with native vegetation making way for jam-packed housing with little or no room to swing a wildlife-munching cat, let alone to plant native vegetation.
On the upside, I did see an article in The Guardian recently about landowners planting native vegetation on their properties as part of their farming practices.
What might be helpful, I think, is that when authorities & the media talk about the advantages of planting trees or native vegetation they specify indigenous species which are much more important to the recovery of our wildlife than native vegetation from other parts of Australia or the hybrid native plants so prevelant in nurseries.
True of a lot of places unfortunately. I must say that I am over all the Murraya hedges around us here in Sydney... the perfume can be overpowering and nothing seems attracted to them. A native plant would be so much nicer.