Biodiversity Projects

The critically endangered Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolour) is a migratory species that winters on mainland Australia and breeds over summer in Tasmania. This five-year project comprises of four areas of activity that aim to improve conservation outcomes for Swift Parrots, through improvements to management actions within their breeding range in Tasmania.

The critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot (OBP) survives in the wild as a diminished, single population that only breeds in southwest Tasmanian migrating to mainland south-eastern Australia over winter.

This five-year project is working to safeguard Orange-bellied Parrots by investigating predator threats and management needs for Orange-bellied Parrots, improving food plant availability through burning trials, mapping foraging habitat and implementing habitat improvement along their Tasmanian migration route, and using research models to improve management.

Endemic to Tasmania, the endangered Swan galaxias only occurs in small, highly fragmented populations in eastern Tasmania. Under threat from invasive species such as trout and redfin perch, climate change and a small, fragmented population size, this project aims to address these threats through a series of initiatives that build upon an earlier NRM South led project completed in 2023.

This five-year project is working to safeguard Bruny Island’s biodiversity through the protection of the island’s threatened species and ecological communities. Through focused efforts across 4,000 ha of Aboriginal owned and managed land and addressing biodiversity hotspots island-wide, project actions will improve the trajectory of key species and ecosystems. Aligned with the priorities outlined in the Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032, our approach integrates Aboriginal knowledge and leadership, scientific expertise, and community involvement, forging sustainable pathways for biodiversity conservation. This initiative signifies a commitment to safeguarding Bruny Island’s natural heritage for generations to come.

Endemic to Tasmania, the critically endangered Ammonite Snail is known from only a handful of locations in the Greater Hobart region. In order to conserve this species, more information is needed about its habitat, range and how it overlaps with similar species. This project is working to address knowledge gaps, develop species management guidelines and work with private landowners in and around Hobart to implement conservation actions for this species.

Feral cats have contributed to the extinction of at least 22 Australian mammal species since colonisation and are continuing to drive biodiversity declines across Australia. Removing cats on a landscape scale remains an ongoing challenge in Australian conservation. Islands such as Bruny Island can be valuable safe havens for biodiversity. Island-based cat management programs that work towards eradication can have lasting positive outcomes for wildlife in these landscapes.

Tasmania is home to some of the oldest species of plants on Earth, and our geographical isolation means many of our plants are found nowhere else in the world. This group of sub-projects is addressing threats to a select number of our most at risk plants and plant communities, and includes efforts to boost seed reserves and improve genetic viability, replant and reconnect plant communities, and engage the broader community in conservation efforts.

The critically endangered Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor) migrates annually from mainland Australia to breed in Tasmania. Arriving around springtime, they seek out our flowering blue and black gums, form mating pairs and spend their summer raising chicks. While they often reuse the same nesting sites, they don’t always turn up at the same site over successive years due to variability in flowering from year to year. This unpredictability can pose challenges when it comes to conservation efforts.

The Tasmanian Quoll Conservation Program (TQCP) comprises an Australia-wide group of institutions that manage the breeding of Eastern and Spotted-tailed Quolls to directly support wild populations within Tasmania and provide support for endorsed Eastern Quoll conservation programs across Australia.

Endemic to eastern Tasmania, the endangered Forty-spotted Pardalote survives in small, isolated mainland populations in the south east, as well as on offshore islands including Flinders, Maria and Bruny. It is under threat from the loss of its habitat (principally white gum – a critical feeding resource), its small population size, and the death of nestlings due to the larvae of an endemic parasitic fly that can kill up to 81% of chicks in infested areas.

The critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot is one of 20 priority bird species under the Australian Government’s Threatened Species Strategy. Wild populations have been reduced to a single population that only breeds in one site in southwest Tasmania, migrating annually along the Tasmanian west coast between Tasmanian and coastal Victoria and south-eastern South Australia.

There is a lot that is still not understood about Tasmania’s Wedge-tailed Eagles in Tasmania. NRM South is working to address some of these knowledge gaps through the Wedge-Tailed Eagle Offset Fund for Cattle Hill Wind Farm. This fund is supporting high quality ecological or other relevant scientific research on Tasmania’s Wedge-tailed Eagles, the results of which will assist with their management and protection.

Swan galaxias are listed as endangered under the EPBC Act and the Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 and are one of the Australian Government’s priority species under its Threatened Species Strategy 2021-2031. Researchers have identified Swan Galaxias as one of Australia’s most threatened freshwater fish at imminent risk of extinction within the next 20 years.

Red handfish, which are only found at select sites in southeast Tasmania, are considered to be one of the most vulnerable marine fish species in the world. Relying on modified hand-shaped fins to move across the seabed, they are only able to move short distances and can only live in areas that meet very specific conditions – which makes them very vulnerable to extinction.