Yarra4Life received funding from DCCEEW’s Environmental Restoration Fund – Threatened Species Grants to secure an adequate supply of both locally sourced and climate adjusted seed to meet habitat needs for lowland Leadbeater’s Possum.

The project was implemented at the Upper Yarra Sewage Treatment Plant between 2022 and 2023 as a high priority location for habitat restoration for lowland Leadbeater’s Possum.

Yarra4Life coordinated and delivered the project in partnership with Yarra Valley Water, Zoos Victoria, Friends of the Leadbeater’s Possum, Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater, Greening Australia, Wurundjeri Woi wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and Parks Victoria.

The project involved on-ground works delivered through volunteer planting days across an area of approximately four hectares.  This included a previously planted section that required targeted in-fill planting to enhance habitat quality, as well as revegetation of grassy corridors to strengthen f connectivity between existing vegetation. In total, approximately 0.6 hectares of new habitat was established  and habitat quality was improved across an additional 1.8 hectares through infill planting.

Climate change ihad already been impacting ecosystems across Australia. Because Lowland Leadbeater’s Possum depends on cool, wet environments, immediate action was needed  to help the species adapt to the changing conditions. One approach used was climate-adjusted seed provenance  – selecting seed sources that increased the resilience and long-term viability of revegetation in a warming climate.

Volunteer seed collectors from the Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater collected locally sourced seeds from at least five plant species that met the specific habitat requirements of the lowland Leadbeater’s Possum.

Planning is underway to create up to 3 ‘Climate Future Plots’ in the middle Yarra catchment within 1km of the Yarra – Birrarung.  Climate Future Plots are areas of revegetated and restored land that incorporate genetic and/or species diversity to enhance habitat resilience to the uncertain and unpredictable effects of climate change.