Victorian Central Highlands Research Fund

Priority area: Leading in our region
This fund will support long-term field-based research that provides the scientific basis for biodiversity conservation and forest management in the magnificent Mountain Ash forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria. A particular focus of this work is to conserve the Critically Endangered Leadbeater’s Possum.

David Lindenmayer and his team of highly skilled young scientists have been working in the Mountain Ash forests of Victoria for more than 32 years. A key focus of the work has been on the Critically Endangered Leadbeater's Possum - a species largely confined to Mountain Ash forests. David Lindenmayer's long-term research has clearly indicated that Leadbeater's Possum is significantly negatively impacted by clearfell logging and wildfire.

The Victorian Central Highlands Research Fund will support the following activities:

  • Maintain the long-term ecological research and monitoring to keep building the science case for the establishment of a large ecological reserve to conserve the Critically Endangered Leadbeater's Possum, as well as other extraordinary arboreal marsupials.
  • Continue (and further expand) the key scientific research and monitoring work aimed at conserving forest biodiversity in Victoria's Mountain Ash forests.
  • Continue to connect strongly with the general public to bring people to the forest and experience the magnificent Mountain Ash forests. To date, more than 15,000 volunteers have participated in our long-term, repeated surveys of Leadbeater's Possum and contributed significantly to conservation efforts.
  • Widely communicate key scientific findings to a broad audience.
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