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Wybong property home to array of wildlife
The search of a single property near Wybong has uncovered a remarkable number of wildlife, plant species and Aboriginal heritage, including an orchid never seen before.
The results came out of a survey conducted by the Anvil Hill Project Watch Association on a 425-acre property near Wybong.
Funding
In 2003 the Association received more than $27,000 from the Australian Government for the work.
The thousands of hours the small group of volunteers spent scouring the area paid off.
Activities and Achievements
"The results have been absolutely amazing," Anvil Hill Project Watch Association President Christine Phelps said.
"We identified a brand new species of orchid, which has been named Wybong Rusty Hood.
"We found threatened plants that were only known to occur in a couple of other areas, including the Commersonia Rosea and what we believe to be the largest ever population of Denman Pomaderris."
The property also proved to be a treasure trove of Aboriginal heritage, with the group discovering a major Aboriginal tool-making site, which was part of a trade route.
"We found lots of traditional tools and there were also first contact artefacts, where Aboriginal people had used bottles to create tools," Christine said.
"We also looked into European heritage and found an old brand, which the shape identified as being from the second owner of the adjoining Pickering homestead."
In addition, the survey established the important biodiversity values of the property, confirming the group's belief it should be set aside for conservation.
"Community education has been a huge achievement here," Christine said.
"People just thought of it as a bush block with little appreciation of its values. Now the landowner is setting up a voluntary conservation agreement on the property.
"We've also educated farmers in the area about the importance of native bats and birds in pest control, and expanded their appreciation of the area's biodiversity values."
This extensive concentration of wildlife means the Anvil Hill Project Watch Association's next project is clear - to link wildlife corridors to expand wildlife territories.
And the large collection of photographs taken during the survey will be turned into a book, with funding from Hunter Regional Landcare Network.
More information
- Christine Phelps, Anvil Hill Project Watch Association Inc President: (02) 6547 8011 or christine.phelps@reset.net.au
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