5 November 2025
A vision for continuous native-vegetation corridors linking the Grampians/Gariwerd and Pyrenees ranges is one step closer to reality, thanks to grants recently awarded to a coalition of local Landcare groups.
The grants, funded by the Victorian State Government and awarded via the Wimmera Catchment Management Authority, will fund the purchase of 13 hi-tech acoustic bird monitoring stations. These will join 16 additional stations already funded by the National Heritage Trust, bringing the project's total to 29.
The recent grant recipients include Jallukar Landcare, Moyston Landcare, Northern Grampians Landcare, Black Range Land Management Group, and Elmhurst Landcare. They are part of a broader coalition of over 10 Landcare groups that make up the “Grampians/Gariwerd to Pyrenees Biolink Project,” which is being led by Project Platypus, a Stawell-based conservation not-for-profit organisation that works with Landcares, community, and government to rehabilitate land and create habitat.
The Grampians/Gariwerd to Pyrenees Biolink Project aims to tackle the critical problem of habitat fragmentation in the Upper Wimmera.
“The loss and fragmentation of native habitat has been the number one cause of species decline,” said project coordinator Dr. Elia Pirtle. “It makes it difficult for animals to move to find food, homes and mates, leading to isolated populations, reduced genetic diversity, and ultimately local extinctions.”
The solution is to create biolinks. These are "bridges" of native vegetation that have been planted to reconnect isolated "islands" of habitat.
So how do you identify the most important areas to protect and connect? To answer this question Landcare groups are embracing cutting-edge technology. Solar-powered acoustic bird monitoring stations, called BirdweatherPUCs, will be installed in historically revegetated sites and remnant bushland. These devices will use Artificial Intelligence—specifically the BirdNet AI model developed by Cornell University—to listen for and identify bird calls 24/7.
“The aim is to look for ‘indicator birds,’” said Dr. Pirtle. “These are bird species that are only found in areas where habitat is of high enough quality to also support a whole range of other native species. Think birds like hooded robins and pardelotes, not magpies!”
The data will be uploaded to shared mapping software used by the Landcares, allowing the groups to pinpoint biodiversity hotspots and plan the most effective biolink plantings.
Dr. Pirtle said the initial focus for bird monitoring will be revegetated sites that are 10 years or older.
“We want to go back to these historically revegetated sites, determine what birds have now moved in, and compare them to the bird communities in nearby remnant bushland,” she said. “This will help us understand the value of all the hard work that our Landcares and volunteers have put in rehabilitating natural habitat over many years.”
Local Landcare members are enthusiastic about the project's potential.
“As a member of the Jallukar Landcare biolinks team, I believe it is essential for a coordinated approach across the entire region, and Elia's enthusiasm and the introduction of the latest technology will greatly help bring meaningful cross-landscape biolinks closer to reality” said John King, a Jallukar Landcare member.
Magnus Baker from Elmhurst Landcare agreed, adding that his Landcare is excited about the prospect of measuring “how our many years of revegetation work has benefited native birds”.
BirdPUCs demonstrate technology's power in conservation, Dr. Pirtle says, not replacing human effort, but enabling broader community participation than ever before.
“A key benefit of these new AI powered technologies is that they allow anyone to participate in biodiversity data collection; no prior bird expertise is required,” says Dr. Pirtle. “"It’s a powerful demonstration of technology bringing conservation to the community.”
Keep an eye on the Project Platypus facebook page for details on how you can get involved in this exciting AI-powered citizen science monitoring.
Elia Pirtle
Landcare Facilitator