The Natural Resources Commission (NRC) has partnered with land managers and scientists from the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Forestry Corporation of NSW to pilot an approach to monitoring animals across State forests and national parks.
The NRC said the Cross tenure fauna monitoring program would lay the foundation for reliable evidence on the health of native animal populations across the landscape.
“Native animals use habitat on national parks and State forests,” the NRC said.
“Unlike people, they don’t recognise boundaries,” it said.
“Without a consistent and comprehensive approach to monitor native animals across tenures, we risk having a piece-meal view on what is really occurring to our native animals.”
The NRC said work on the Program had started in the State’s north-east costal forests and would see the development of a method to ensure a consistent approach across tenures; the establishment of eight new fauna monitoring sites within State forests; and additions to the existing camera monitoring sites at seven WildCount locations within the national parks estate.
The Commission said the Program would also establish four sub-plots at each of the monitoring sites, creating a total of 32 sub-plots in State forests and 28 in national parks.
It said the Pilot Program would combine a number of remote survey techniques at each of the sub-plots, including an ultrasonic detector to capture bat calls; a call recorder to capture bird and nocturnal mammal, owl and frog calls; and an infrared motion-activated camera to capture ground dwelling mammals and reptiles.
“A formal evaluation will occur at the end of the pilot to explore insights and lessons learnt; this will inform decision making to expand the program more broadly across tenures in other NSW forests,” the NRC said.
