About the Friends
The Friends of the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby Incorporated, a non-profit group, was formed in 1995 by residents in Kangaroo Valley but our membership has expanded to include people from throughout the Shoalhaven, Sydney, other states and overseas. We have a strong association with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, now a Division of the Department of Environment and Conservation. We are an Incorporated group with the Department of Fair Trading and have over 50 members, our own Constitution and an Executive Committee. We are also a registered Bushcare group.
Our aim is to increase the numbers of rock-wallabies by reducing threats to its survival and to create a better environment for the species to breed.
Our groups objectives are to:
- Provide support for and to foster public awareness of the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby
- Assist with special projects selected by the group in consultation with the National Parks and Wildlife Service and/or other groups
- Support the effective conservation of native flora and fauna
- Raise funds for projects aimed at recovering the species
- Promote the control of feral species impacting on Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies
We support the local National Parks and Wildlife Service fox control program and encourage others to do so. We foster important research and conduct education and community awareness. Many of the Friends participate in fox control on their properties as part of a network of bait stations throughout the Shoalhaven. We had direct input into the development of the NSW Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby Recovery Plan and continue to play a key role in the ‘Community Involvement’ Actions listed within the Plan. As the Plan states ‘The successful implementation of Recovery Actions relies on the participation of all sectors of the community.’
Our group has hosted numerous fundraising events and regularly participate in local community events. Funds raised by the Friends have been used to:
- Conduct feral goat control around rock-wallaby colonies within Southern NSW
- Conduct school education programs within the Shoalhaven
- Produce information brochures on Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies and fox control
- Produce a video on the plight of Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies and what is being done to assist in saving the species in the Shoalhaven
- Provide yearly scholarships to the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, for the Masters of Wildlife Heath and Population Management
- Partially sponsor an enclosure for the NSW Brush-tailed rock-wallaby Captive Breeding Program at Waterfall Springs Conservation Park, Central Coast, NSW.
- Support local community events including the Kangaroo Valley Rock-wallaby youth festival
- Funded and assisted with surveys for new rock-wallaby colonies in the Shoalhaven
- Partially funded the trial release of 2 male captively bred Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies to a severely declining local colony in 2001.
Our group have received a number of grants and awards for our work on Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies:
- In 1996 we received the Readers Digest Fiftieth Anniversary Award for Environmental Endeavour
- In 1997 we received an AGL Friends of National Parks Award for highly commended efforts in conservation for National Parks in NSW
- In 2001 we received funding with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Highlands Area Office, from the Foundation for National Parks to conduct a School Education program on the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby and other threatened species at six schools within the Shoalhaven.
- In 2003 we received funding from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service ‘Save Our Species’ program for the production of an information brochure on fox control and the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby.
- In 2006 we received funding from the Southern Rivers Catchment Management Authority for expanding fox control efforts in the Shoalhaven using trapping and shooting methods.
The Friends and the Service produce a regular newsletter with a circulation of 1100 in the Shoalhaven area.
