Kleinfelder was contracted by the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage (OEH) to carry out site-specific actions for the Small Snake Orchid, Northern Blue Box, Blackbutt Candlebark and Wallangarra White Gum prioritised in OEH’s ‘Saving Our Species’ (SoS) program. The project objectives were to improve and protect the species’ habitat, reduce key threats and engage local communities.

Multiple Stakeholders and Project Sites

The project challenges included coordinating on-ground works at multiple sites across a large region, liaising with a variety of stakeholders including government agencies, landholders, and other consultants, while delivering the project within a tight budget and timeframe.

Effective Communication / Wide-Ranging Skill Sets

Kleinfelder quickly mobilised a team of experts that matched the needed skills, including a project manager who provided oversight and was the liaison for both the client and various stakeholder groups. The Team was able to minimise direct threats from competing species through site-based weed control; targeted revegetation and habitat restoration activities; monitoring of the effects of management actions on both threat and target species; and, community engagement activities to raise awareness of the conservation work being performed. Education provided by the PM on the existence of these species and their conservation value, helped to raise awareness with Local Land Services, TSR permit holders
and landholders.

Project Results

Kleinfelder erected three stock-proof fence enclosures that protect the Small Snake Orchid from trampling and overgrazing during its flowering period and the Northern Blue Box during times of drought. At two TSR sites, Kleinfelder’s targeted surveys and monitoring plots for Blackbutt Candlebark increased awareness of its occurrence and led to a monitoring methodology that could be replicated in the future.

Project Details

Location:
Northern Tablelands, NSW, Australia

Owner:
NSW Office of Environment & Heritage