Great recycling effort in the office! 39 containers saved from landfill and recycled through Containers for Change !!!

Home Sweet Hollow: Containers For Change funds new nest boxes Thanks to everyone’s Containers for Change donations, we were able to buy two new nest boxes. Though other wildlife can call these home, the new nest boxes we bought with recent Containers for Change funding cater for the feather-tail glider and antechinus. These two nest boxes were installed at Aroona Station in 2024, in areas of regrowth forest where there is a nice grassy understory, but natural hollows are lacking. Aroona Station already has 16 nest boxes installed to support nesting and shelter habitat for wildlife, and we hope to add more. We’ve had squirrel gliders, Australian owlet-nightjars, brush-tailed phascogales, and even a microbat use the nest boxes. We monitor who is using the nest boxes through camera traps or through inspecting each nest box with an elevated camera on a pole. How can you help us install more next boxes? When you’re recycling your 10c containers at Containers for Change, you can choose to donate your refund to QTFN as your nominated charity. You can quote scheme ID C10903835. You can also set ‘donate’ to QTFN’s details as your member number’s preferred payment method online. You can donate at Containers for Change depots, bag drops, reverse vending machines, pop ups, and there’s even home collection offered now. If you have any questions or need clarification, please contact us or Containers for Change; we’d love your support. Continue donating to us through Containers for Change, and we can cultivate a future where wildlife thrives, nestled within the hollows we’ve helped create.

At Koala Crossing, active land management is working to improve the environmental health of the property, creating suitable habitat for koalas and ensuring they can move freely through the landscape. Controlling invasive species is a continuous effort. In 2023-24, we completed over 150 hectares of weed control and 61 hectares of fire management. Under QTFN management, Koala Crossing is gradually improving to reflect a more natural habitat.

Citizen science expert Greg Tasney visited Avoid Island in September 2023 and added incredibly valuable biodiversity records, contributing 481 observations of 214 species to the Avoid Island iNaturalist project. From toadstool leather corals and broad-leaved bottle trees, to rainbow bee-eaters and sand-swimmers, Greg collected a tremendous amount of biodiversity data in only two days. Photos by Jasmine Louise Photography. https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/projects/avoid-island-biodiversity

The series of four citizen science camps at Koala Crossing recorded 72 bird species, 151 plant species, 18 mammal species, and over 131 invertebrate species. This was through 523 observations by 85 overall citizen scientists, and thanks to the help of 14 species experts. The camps found squirrel gliders, rakali and 27 new bird species records for the property.

The series of four citizen science camps at Mount Mellum recorded 59 bird species, 329 plant species, 18 mammal species, and over 260 invertebrate taxa. This was through 1427 observations by 142 overall citizen scientists, and thanks to the help of 23 species experts. The camps found 10 species not named in scientific literature yet, including a vine species. Photos taken by Jasmine Louise Photography.

In the 2023-24 financial year there were two final citizen science camps at Dangerbridge Nature Refuge: Mammal Muster and Bird Bivouac. The two camps over four days recorded 107 species, including nationally endangered greater gliders, koalas, and grey-headed flying-foxes. Bird Bivouac was all about using binoculars, books, and bioacoustic recorders to find birds. Throughout the Bird Bivouac weekend 89 bird species were recorded, including 14 species not previously recorded on the property, like the vulnerable powerful owl and white-throated needletail. The camps brought together 77 citizen scientists and 15 species experts, with over 451 hours of volunteer time to bring the events to life. Photos by Jasmine Louise Photography

Six QTFN staff joined in with hands-on efforts expanding riparian buffers around Aroona. This helps not only to control erosion and promote hydration of the landscape but also supports the quality of surrounding habitat. We planted 300 trees along a watercourse thanks to trees from the Land for Wildlife program with Ipswich City Council. These plantings will help gradually connect vegetation across Aroona’s landscapes, fostering its resilience and ecological health.

Citizens for Refuge Ecology aims to utilize the power of citizen science to inform conservation activities on Private Nature Refuges throughout Queensland. Each year we run a series of four camps focusing on a diverse range of organisms including Plants, Mammals, Invertebrates, and Birds. Invert Adventure was a one night, 2 day invertebrate survey focused on learning about the diversity of insects, nematodes, spiders, and other invertebrates on this year's focal property, Dangerbridge Nature Refuge. We rotated through a set of guided activities led by QTFN and experts. There were over 742 observations of invertebrates with 248 species identified by 25 citizen (and expert) scientists. The data is available in iNAturalist - https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/dangerbridge-invert-adventure .