Enhancing Habitats: Nest Box Walk & Talk
A community collaboration for biodiversity
Capacity building - LEP_23-020_LLC12
The issue
While the Holbrook community has a strong history of investing in shelterbelts and corridors, maintaining these habitats requires ongoing commitment. At the Holbrook Pony Club Travelling Stock Reserve (TSR), an 18-hectare site on Wiradjuri Country rich with Box-Gum Grassy Woodland, the existing nestboxes had not been maintained in over a decade. Furthermore, local school students had not visited the site for an excursion in just as long.
In a very busy local schedule, the challenge was how to engage with local farmers and community members, get them to commit to coming to a field day and talk about biodiversity and the critical role these boxes play on farms.
The solution
The project turned to local collaboration and the Holbrook Men’s Shed was asked to build new custom nestboxes and they did an amazing job. To build community connection, different local groups were asked to help decorate them. The Holbrook Community Gardens, both primary schools, the local day care, and the Mainly Music Program all enjoyed the painting process. There were no guidelines for the painting and it was very exciting seeing the colourful nestboxes come back.
The initiative culminated in a ‘Walk & Talk’ event at the Pony Club TSR, bringing together farmers, landholders, and Grade 5 and 6 students from Holbrook Public School to learn about the value of on-farm natural assets and how artificial shelters accelerate habitat development.
The impact
The colourful painted boxes certainly created interest. They were shown on Facebook by the various community groups and Landcare a week before the event, sparking genuine excitement. Everyone was commenting on them and the Men’s Shed even started receiving more orders.
This excitement translated into excellent attendance. Farmer and ecologist Mason Crane from the Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) attended as a guest speaker, attracting attendees from as far as Wagga who wanted to listen, learn and ask questions for their own nest box projects.
The event served as a powerful reminder that healthy habitats provide stock shelter, and essential drought reserves that build farm productivity and climate resilience. It was a wonderful day where students and adult community members alike learned how to better identify and protect local wildlife, including possums, birds and the threatened Squirrel Glider.
Key facts
- 1. Community collaboration
- 2. Hands-on engagement
- 3. Knowledge sharing
- 4. Targeted expertise
- 5. Multi-generational participation