23 August 2026
On a sunny winter's day in early August, a wonderful group of volunteers gathered at a key habitat site in Ledcourt to plant trees and learn about one of western Victoria's most vulnerable species, the squirrel glider. Thank you to everyone who came along and gave their time to help reconnect habitat in Northern Gariwerd.
Squirrel gliders once moved freely through unbroken woodland stretching from Gariwerd all the way to the tip of Queensland. Today, farmland and towns have carved that woodland into isolated "islands", and our local gliders, the last remaining population in western Victoria, are stranded in Northern Gariwerd, cut off from the healthy populations further east. This event formed part of Project Platypus's four-step plan to bring the species back from the brink.
Our field crew identified the Ledcourt site as a priority habitat area, with squirrel gliders sighted during our regular night surveys. Revegetation and nest boxes work together as two halves of the same solution: the trees planted on the day will grow into the tree-to-tree "bridges" gliders need to move between habitat islands, while nest boxes offer safe, ready-made homes in the meantime, while those plantings mature. In time, this new vegetation will form a shelterbelt connecting squirrel glider habitat across the landscape.
Volunteers arrived at 9.30am for a briefing and morning tea before planting got underway at 10.00am. What followed were a few joyful hours spent planting seedlings in soft soil along a creek line. We all warmed our hands around a fire as we shared a meal in the middle of the day, enjoying coming together for a common cause.
In the afternoon, attendees stayed on for a nest box workshop, where climbing arborist and conservation advocate Nils Karlsson from Calypto Hollows demonstrated how nest boxes and artificial tree hollows are built and installed to provide immediate habitat for vulnerable species.
Nils showcased tools developed for creating artificial hollows, the "hollow hog" and its smaller counterpart, the "piglet." We learned that it's very achievable to create and install nest boxes, and felt empowered to use this information in our own neighbourhoods.
We then watched as Nils installed the nest boxes in some of the taller trees on the property. It was great to watch how him scale the tree with his specialised climbing gear. He reassured us that we can manage in our own neighbourhoods by simply using a ladder to install nest boxes part way up a tree.
Days like this one are the practical backbone of squirrel glider recovery in Northern Gariwerd. Every seedling in the ground is a future stepping stone in the tree-to-tree bridges gliders need to move safely between habitat islands, and every nest box installed by Nils and the volunteers is a home ready and waiting long before those trees reach maturity. It's slow, patient work, but it's exactly the kind of hands-on effort that turns a four-step plan into real habitat on the ground. We're deeply grateful to everyone who gave up their day for it, and we look forward to watching this shelterbelt take shape, tree by tree, box by box, over the seasons to come.
Bronte Heron
Communications and Events Officer