Yass Habitat Linkages is a 10 year project funded by the NSW Environmental Trust through a partnership between YAN, Greening Australia, the Australian River Restoration Centre, Land for Wildlife, Local Land Services and Yass Valley Council. The project commenced in 2016 and is well advanced in meeting its targets.
This exciting project enables landholders to enhance biodiversity and improve sustainable farming in the Yass region by helping to create corridors of native vegetation across the landscape. The project focuses on restoring wildlife habitat and vegetation across a valued productive agricultural landscape. By returning areas to native vegetation and linking them to older, remnant stands across both public and private land, we can improve biodiversity and productivity. This is because connecting fragments of native vegetation increases habitat for plants and animals to maintain viable population sizes and genetic diversity. It also helps to successfully disperse young native birds and animals into an environment that will support them to maturity, maintain seasonal foraging movements, and recolonise after events such as fire. An additional benefit is that connected vegetation creates 'thermal' refuges from the negative impacts of climate change.
The project has engaged 53 landholders, and has resulted in 30,000 new native tubestock and 155km of direct seeding in the Yass Valley.
Scroll down this page to watch a short video about Yass Habitat Linkages and the value of photos (this includes tips and tricks for photo monitoring).
Listen to a short interview about the YHL Project Elizabeth Goodfellow interviews YAN Coordinator, Sonya Duus, on Yass FM.
Summary of YHL project in five slides Presentation to a meeting of Environmental Trust staff and other project managers across NSW.
Landcare NSW Gateway 'Yass Habitat Linkages', case study on the Landcare NSW website.
Landcare NSW Gateway 'Linkages created over time in Yass Valley', case study on the Landcare NSW website.
Yass Habitat Linkages Case Study: 'Arunda', Gunning Sue Mackenzie and Don Thomas have been restoring their property for the past decade. Joining the Yass Habitat Linkages project has allowed Sue and Don to extend their efforts.
'Landholders Plant New Roots' An article by Yass Habitat Linkages Project Manager Charles Willcocks that appeared in the Yass Tribune on 6th March 2019.
The Truth About Trees event in March 2017 was an opportunity to bring the local community together with ecologists, practitioners, private and public managers, and other related service providers to hear from the experts, share local knowledge and have a conversation about addressing the issues around habitat loss, fragmentation and declines in productivity and work out how we, as a Landcare community, can work together to improve this situation. The event attracted 140 people. You can view Professor David Lindenmayer's presentation here.
Yass Habitat Linkages The original project brochure from 2016.
The project area lies within the New South Wales Great Eastern Ranges corridor, around Yass between Murrumbateman, Jerrawa and Bowning.
