Parks Conservation and Lands

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January 2008

Mr Jon Stanhope MLA, Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, declares in a media release that the Mulligans Flat Woodlands Sanctuary “Is a visionary project for the ecological preservation of a unique part of our landscape”.

29 February 2008

The first meeting of the Mulligans Flat Woodlands Sanctuary Steering Committee is held.

March 2008

The Development Application is submitted to the Australian Capital Territory Planning Authority. The Development Application included Fence Alignment, Design Drawings, an Ecological Survey, a Cultural Heritage Survey and a Visual Impact Study.

The second meeting of the Mulligans Flat Woodlands Sanctuary Steering Committee is held.  Much advice has been given by the committee in relation to construction, feral animal management, public communication and more. Some progress was made in thinking about a transition to a form of Sanctuary ‘Trust’.  The committee is also working towards convening a workshop(s) to consider the experiences of other organisations that have built sanctuaries as well as an ongoing Management Plan.

April 2008

The Project Officer pegs out the fence alignment.

May/June 2008

Expectations are that the Development Application will be approved and tenders can be called as well as tree pruning of fence corridor can begin.

July 2008

The Development Application is approved and the first materials are ordered to beat steel price rises and ensure timely supply.

August 2008

ACT Procurement Solutions release tender documents. Tenders closed on 21 August.  Tree pruning of the fence corridor is completed.

September 2008

Tenders are in and budget estimate is very close.

October 2008

The contract has been let to Kooringal Fencing.  The principle John Farrar, has previosuly constructed the Koala enclosure at Tidbinbilla Nature reserve.  Several on-site meetings have already been held and a 100 metre length of sample fence will be constructed first.  

November 2008

The sample section of fence is constructed and from this several changes to the original design have been made. There have also been some innovative ideas put forward by the several experienced fencing tradesmen on site. Design changes to the 'floppy top' at the gateways, the fixing of the bottom netting to rocky ground, setting up templates for the gateways to maintain exact tolerances are just a few of the ideas utilised.

December 2008

Fence construction is proceeding well, eight gateways and nearly 4.0 kilometres of fence is under construction. A small part of the remote telemetry system has been fitted to test the gates 'closed or open' status, the condition of the electric fence (when activated) and remote cameras for wildlife monitoring.

Parks Conservation and Lands Rangers setup 'Sand Pad' and hidden camera monitoring to measure the abundance of mainly feral animals in the area to be confined by the sanctuary fence. After an initial monitoring period we are now aware of the presence of several foxes and cats in Mulligans Flat and Goorooyarroo Nature Reserves.

January to April 2009

During this very dry summer we have progressed around the whole of the fenceline with some part of the fence construction. As of April 9 all of the horizontal wires and netting has been clipped into the fence. Nineteen of the twenty gates are fitted (left open for now) and the main electrical connection is underway.

The steering committee has met and progressed towards a change of management into a form of Trust. The species management panel has also met and are developing a list of animals that may be suitable to release into the sanctuary when complete.

Sanctuary field staff, Peter Mills and Grant Woodbridge, travelled to Australian Wildlife Conservancy - Scotia Sanctuary (150 kilometres south of Broken Hill NSW) and Arid Recovery - Roxby Downs Sanctuary (near Olympic Dam mine north of Port Augusta SA). The information and experiences gained from staff at these two places was important for us to successfully manage the Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary in the future. Things learned include: juvenile rabbits can squeeze through 25mm gaps under gates, Bilby's bite, we are not alone in this sanctuary management business, the three rules of feral animal elimination are 'persistence monitoring', 'persistence trapping and baiting' and of course 'persistence doing it all again', use only good quality Australian made star pickets, wire and netting and Bettongs, Mala's and Bridled Nail Tail Wallabies are all very cute.

Rangers have worked on a 'Pest and Over Abundant Species Management Strategy'. This strategy will be  the main guide for eliminating foxes, cats, rabbits and hares from within this sanctuary. Preliminary work is continuing towards feral animal monitoring and control.

Sanctuary field staff along with the Visitor Services and Marketing team at Stromlo Headquarters have appointed a graphic designer and begun to develop interpretive signs for the sanctuary. The provision of interpretive signage is mainly supported through grant funding obtained by the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre.

April to  10th June 2009

The bulk of the fence construction was finished by late May. The electric fence was tested and after a few minor changes was working fine and holding 7 kilovolts. Self  closing mechanisms to all the gates were fitted and tested as well as the intricate floppy tops. Rangers worked with a technician from Observant Pty Ltd to install the remainder of the gate telemetry so testing could begin. Rangers also took the opportunity to begin feral animal controls starting with a baiting program for rabbits. The strategy here was to control rabbits with the flow on effects of the resident foxes getting hungry (they like rabbits) and just maybe they would leave the sanctuary for 'rabbit plentiful' pastures elsewhere.