Sounding the Chorus of Frogs in Corowa Wetlands
Sounding the Chorus of Frogs in Corowa Wetlands
Partnerships, education, NRM, capacity building and threatened species
Community Participation -
LP019-002
The issue
Corowa District Landcare (CDL) wanted to address two major environmental issues: the decline of the listed threatened species, Sloane's Froglet (Crinia sloanei) in the Corowa region of NSW; and the ongoing degradation of freshwater wetland habitat that supports it and a vast range of other wetland species. CDL also wanted to increase awareness of these issues in local primary schools.
The solution
In partnership with Charles Sturt University frog expert Dr Alex Knight, CDL applied to the NSW Environment Trust Education Program in 2017 and was awarded funding for the “Sounding the Chorus for Frogs in Corowa's Wetlands” project in 2018. In this project, the focus was on the threatened species - Sloane's Froglet & also on the engagement of school children and the broader community in caring for frogs, threatened species and wetland habitats.
The impact
CDL, Dr Knight & project partners developed a digital educational resource kit for primary schools called “Hop Into Frogs - A teaching resource about frogs & wetlands around Corowa & districts”. This resource was created for students and educators in the Corowa region to support frog-related learning opportunities and experiences in schools. The content is tailored to the local environment and frog populations. Two Local Aboriginal groups also contributed to the resource & it has been made available to the 11 primary schools in this region. The resource is available to view or download from the CDL website: https://www.corowadistrictlandcare.org.au/hop-into-frogs
The project also included school visits by scientist Dr Knight to engage primary school children in hands-on creative activities and singing the Sloane’s Froglet song, written by Dr Alex Knight. The song has now been recorded by Geoff Wright and performed by Corowa South Primary School.
CDL and Federation Council, together with Dr Knight selected two sites for wetland rehabilitation; the Whitehead St Wetlands and the River St Wetland, both located in Corowa. They were chosen because they both have a permanent water source with surrounding ephemeral wetlands, suitable for frog breeding. Both sites have had rehabilitation works carried out, primarily in the form of planting with local wetland plant species. Community members and school students were engaged and participated in the field days. These events were hosted in July 2018 and June/July 2019. Dr Knight presented, highlighting ways to manage wetlands for species such as the Sloane’s Froglet and identifying the different frog species calls. A total of 4 field days engaged 80 community members and 270 students over the lifetime of the project. A total of 1250 local wetland species were planted.
This project has been assisted by the NSW Government through its Environmental Trust.
Key facts
- A local threatened species - Sloane's Froglet (Crinia sloanei)
- Wetland habitat management
- Local community & school involvement in Landcare
- Local frog educational resource