2023: a year of resilience and rewilding

As 2023 draws to a close, Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) extends heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support throughout the year. Together, we’ve achieved remarkable milestones despite confronting formidable challenges head-on.

Throughout this year, our teams showcased remarkable resilience as they not only sustained but also elevated the scale of land management across Australia. In a concerted effort, we intensified large-scale rewilding projects, conducted extensive inventory, and executed thorough Ecohealth surveys spanning AWC sanctuaries and collaborative partnership areas.

This collective endeavour is a triumphant stride for Australia. By delving into these initiatives, we’re not merely safeguarding wildlife; we’re fostering the ecological health and biodiversity of our nation and ensuring a thriving and sustainable future for Australia’s diverse ecosystems.

Celebrate these achievements of the past 12 months with us in the video below, a testament to our collective dedication to Australia’s rich and unique wildlife heritage.

In 2023, wins for Australian wildlife have included:

• 15 wildlife reintroductions of 11 different species – 613 individuals to nine sites across Australia. Key species reintroduced includes the Chuditch ( Western Quoll), Golden Bandicoot, and Northern Bettong.

• A brighter future for the Northern Bettong, with the last post of the 13-kilometre fence installed at Mount Zero–Taravale Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland, and the area declared predator-free. The first reintroduction of the endangered species was a success, and the first young have been welcomed into their new home.

• Success in the frustrating four-and-a-half-year battle of hide and seek with one elusive fox, nicknamed Rambo at NSW’s Pilliga State Conservation Area. With the final predator finally out of the way, our team is moving forward with wildlife reintroductions which will eventually see six locally extinct species return to the area.

• Boots back on the ground in the Kimberley after devastating flooding and resumption of several important science and land management activities.

Brad Leue/AWC

• Embraced new technology, implementing intelligent traps and fence monitoring devices to keep wildlife safe from predation by feral cats and foxes.

• Continued critical work to secure the future of one of Australia’s most endangered mammals, the Northern Hairy-nosed wombat.

• Treated 68,000 weeds across the country and commenced weed management at AWC’s new Gorton Forest Wildlife Sanctuary near Sydney, focusing on Lantana, a Weed of National Significance.

• Continued to operate Australia’s largest non-government fire management program across more than 7 million hectares.

You can read more about our progress in the latest issue of Wildlife Matters.

Strath Barton/AWC

Conservation starts with you. Your support – through donations, volunteering, sharing stories, facilitating introductions, providing strategic advice, attending events or in any other form – is deeply appreciated.

We are grateful to all our supporters whose generosity has helped deliver some big wins for Australian wildlife in this year of adversity.

We look forward to continuing this vital work in 2024 and hope that you can join us.