ERA works with the local community to create and install wildlife rope canopy bridges.
Wildlife rope bridges can help arboreal mammals move across large gaps in the canopy. This means that they don’t need to come down to the ground to move between trees, reducing their risk of predation.
ERA has designed an easy-to-make wildlife rope bridge using biodegradable materials. We run community and school workshops, in partnership with Eco Warriors Australia, to teach participants to knot together a simple design of flat rope bridge.
Please see here for FAQ. Please contact us if you or your local community organisation or school would like to take part in one of our workshops.
Photo credit: ©ERA
Location: Wombat State Forest, just over an hour west of Melbourne.
Partners: Hepburn Shire Council and DEECA
Major storms in 2021 resulted in large gaps in the tree canopy in Wombat State Forest that will not regrow for many years.
ERA recently ran a series of community workshops to teach participants to make wildlife rope bridge. These rope bridges were then installed to create temporary canopy linkages in areas of the Wombat State Forest.
Native arboreal marsupials are at risk from predation if they have to come to the ground to move through the forest. We hope that Southern Greater Gliders, Brush-tailed Phascogales and Eastern Pygmy-Possums, as well other more common arboreal marsupials, will benefit from the bridges.
For further details visit the Hepburn Shire Council website.
Photo credit: ©ERA
Location: Yarra Ranges, just over an hour east of Melbourne.
Partners: Yarra Ranges Council and Eco Warriors Australia
The June 2021 storms impacted many areas of the Yarra Ranges, and many large trees were lost, resulting in gaps in the forest canopy. ERA received feedback that local community members were keen to volunteer their time and energy to benefit native species impacted by the storms.
ERA, in partnership with Yarra Ranges Council and Eco Warriors Australia, is running a series of community workshops to teach participants to make wildlife rope bridges for arboreal wildlife. The wildlife rope bridges will be installed in areas with extensive damage from the 2021 storms (eg. areas of forest near Healesville and Mount Evelyn). Threatened species which may benefit from the bridges include the nationally endangered Southern Greater Glider, the critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, the vulnerable Brush-tailed Phascogale and Eastern Pygmy-Possums.
Once installed, the rope bridges will help restore habitat connectivity, particularly in the upper canopy. Community volunteers will also be involved in ongoing monitoring, including analysis of remote camera images.
Photo credit: ©ERA
Location: Hanging Rock Reserve, about an hour north-west of Melbourne.
Partners: Macedon Ranges Shire Council, with support from DEECA’s Storm Recovery Fund.
ERA is working with the community to construct wildlife rope bridges for Hanging Rock Reserve.
The rope bridges will be installed by our arborist team, in close consultation with Council, through key areas of the Hanging Rock Reserve. Bridges will be strategically placed to contribute to the ongoing habitat connection priorities for the Reserve, and to help with storm recovery.
Our first canopy rope bridge building workshop in Gisborne was a roaring success, with participants making more than 15m of bridge. Many also said they’d share their new skill, and potentially put bridges up on their own properties.
For further details visit the Macedon Ranges Shire Council website.
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Photo Credit: Friends of Leadbeaters Possum
