Twenty-five dedicated volunteers came together in August to help plant 750 native trees and shrubs, comprising 35 different rainforest species, on a property near Berry on the NSW South Coast. Nestled near Broughton Creek, this future rainforest gully in the GER Illawarra to Shoalhaven partnership region creates a natural ‘stepping-stone’ which will serve to close the habitat gap created by the treeless pastures on either side.

The plantings form part of the Berry Bush Links project (within the Berry Corridor), a partnership led by Berry Landcare, which is working to reconnect the region’s isolated forests to create a vital corridor for wildlife moving between the coast and the escarpment.

The Berry district is blessed with many remnant patches of native vegetation which provide habitats for the region’s diverse wild residents. These include an endangered population of Greater Gliders at Seven Mile Beach National Park and other threatened species such as Powerful Owls, Green and Golden Bell Frogs, and Fishing Bats.

Forests across most of the district’s lowland slopes and flats, however, have been cleared and are now pasture grasslands with few or no trees remaining. These cleared areas pose an impassable barrier for many native animals which if left in place can doom local populations to a slow extinction from genetic decline or rapid disappearance following natural disasters.

The Berry Corridor project is working to reverse this threat by engaging the community to create sustainable and resilient habitat connections to support local wildlife.

If you have a property in the I2S region with remnant vegetation and would like to contribute to the Berry Corridor, please contact David Rush on 0418 977402 for more information.