Protecting Australia’s unique wildlife from feral and introduced pests is a never-ending task and one which becomes more challenging year-on-year as predator numbers continue to rise. But in a remote corner of far western New South Wales the battle is being won albeit with baby steps initially, after a 40km/sq sanctuary for indigenous wildlife was created with major input from scientists from the University of New South Wales.

As part of the state government’s Saving our Species (SoS) initiative aimed at increasing the number of threatened plants and animals in the wild, two fenced enclosures have been erected in Sturt National Park ‑ each measuring 4km x 5km for a total feral-free area of 40km/sq ‑ and in what was a major undertaking, the entire area has been cleared of feral cats, foxes and rabbits to create a safe haven for more than a dozen native animals previously absent from the area.

The project was borne out of a partnership between the NSW Government which contracted the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and University of NSW (UNSW) ‑ both hugely experienced in conservation management and wildlife reintroduction programs ‑ to help return extinct species of mammals to the state’s national parks and reserves. With the state government having committed $40million over the first 10 years, the agreements are in place until 2026 with extension options available, subject to continuous monitoring and evaluation.

The Sturt National Park project is being delivered by UNSW (operating as Wild Deserts), while the Australian Wildlife Conservancy will convey their component at the Pilliga State Conservation Area and the Mallee Cliffs National Park.

Since its inception in 2014, the initiative has been responsible for the return of several threatened species ‑ among them the bridled nail-tailed wallaby and greater bilby ‑ the majority of them now back in their natural habitat in NSW for the first time in almost a century.

One major aside of the project is the fact that, according to extensive scientific research, these animals have a major part to play in maintaining the health of natural ecosystems and by bringing them back to safe havens free of feral predators and pests, they’ll help deliver significant benefits to other mammals on the threatened species list.

The importance of this project cannot be understated in light of the fact that Australia currently has the world’s worst record of mammal extinction. In New South Wales alone a total of 26 species having been lost since European settlement and almost 60 per cent of surviving native animals are now on the ‘threatened’ list. In fact, this is first time in the state’s history that locally-extinct animals have been reintroduced into sizeable areas free of marauding foxes and feral cats.

Said leader of the Wild Deserts project Professor Richard Kingsford: “We are working on innovative ways of controlling feral predators at very low levels, particularly cats, so there are opportunities for improved predator awareness by reintroduced native threatened species such as bilbies and quolls, to maintain and increase their populations in Sturt National Park.”

And the two fenced enclosures in Sturt National Park will play a vital role in the success of the project as, in the past, the lack of fox and cat-proof fences was at the heart of the failure to reintroduce small mammals, something still not possible for the majority of species which fall predator to the instincts of those skilled stalkers and hunters.

For proof that fencing is a major weapon in the fight to protect native wildlife we need look no further than the Scotia Wildlife Sanctuary in south-eastern New South Wales, where the Australian Wildlife Conservancy successfully erected pest-proof fences to enhance the numbers of several endangered species including the brush-tailed bettong and the numbat.

While feral-proof fencing cannot be regarded as a long-term lifeline for every species under threat, in the near term it is undoubtedly an effective option to rescue the declining numbers and, as each individual area in question monitors the success of this project, the bigger picture is to see the eventual release of many species back into their natural habitat when more manageable control measures for predators can be put in place.

Yet before the Sturt National Park initiative got under way, a major environmental assessment was taken, formulating a plan to help minimise the impact on existing wildlife and flora, indigenous heritage and other contributing factors, the two Sturt enclosures eventually being completed and put into action in late 2018.

Then began the task of eliminating all the foxes and feral cats within the enclosed areas along with measures to control other pests including goats, rabbits and feral pigs before finally reintroducing locally extinct species and while the fenced areas were deemed safe for the project to proceed in the spring of 2019, drought forced the reintroduction program to be placed on hold for a spell.

Eventually a handful of carefully selected species were set free inside the fences and those include the greater stick-nest rat, burrowing bettong, greater bilby, golden bandicoot, crest-tailed mulgara and western quoll. A meticulous and ongoing evaluation program has since been undertaken in a bid to monitor changes in reintroduced populations as well as the animals’ health.

Make no mistake, much of this vast nation’s native flora and fauna is facing a very real and ongoing fight for survival and, with projects like this one in the beautiful Sturt National Park, much hope has been restored that many of our plants and animals have a better chance of survival against the threat from introduced pests and predators.