Last week, the ICON Science team received news that our ARC Industry Linkage Project, “Bringing woodland birds back to the suburbs,” has been funded in full!

Over the next five years, our team will be working to understand the drivers of woodland bird species decline and loss from urban areas in south-eastern Australia. Most excitingly, we will be working in partnership with 10 local governments in Greater Melbourne and Bendigo, alongside BirdLife Australia and Zoos Victoria, to test a range of management actions intended to improve habitat and mitigate threats to woodland bird species, using a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) design.

The findings of this project have the potential to transform how urban greenspaces contribute to biodiversity conservation across Australia, and will directly inform our partner councils’ biodiversity strategies. This is a huge win for urban bird conservation, and we can’t wait to get started!

Massive shout out to my fellow chief investigators for helping bring this application together – Prof. Sarah Bekessy (University of Melbourne), Dr Holly Kirk (Curtin University), Dr Georgia Garrard (Zoos Victoria), Dr Holly Parsons (BirdLife Australia), and Dr Mark Hall (City of Greater Bendigo). And a huge thank you to our 12 industry partners for seeing the value in this research and supporting our vision – Banyule City Council, City of Boroondara, City of Greater Bendigo, City Of Monash, Glen Eira City Council, Knox City Council, Manningham Council, Merri-bek City Council, Nillumbik Shire Council, Yarra Ranges Council, BirdLife Australia, and Zoos Victoria.

Let’s bring the woodland birds back!