Glendalough, VIC

Building Habitat For South Gippsland’s Wildlife 

The revegetation work at Glendalough will provide habitat for many native wildlife species including a variety of native birds and koalas. The Eucalypt species planted will support the return of Strzelecki Koalas, a species found in this area and one of the healthiest koala populations in Australia. 

Strzelecki Koalas are a direct descendent from the original Victorian koala gene pool (all other koala populations throughout Victoria and South Australia have been translocated). The Strzelecki Koalas may also hold the key for the survival of the species in Australia, as koala populations in Queensland,  New South Wales and South Australia are now endangered. 

This builds on Greenfleet’s other projects in the region such as Wurneet Laang Laang, where Strzelecki Koalas were found in the revegetation area within just five years of planting.  

Located at the headwaters of the Tarwin River Catchment, this forest will also help slow water as it moves through the area, reduce erosion, and improve water retention. This will enhance water quality and as a result, the habitat conditions for a number of riparian and freshwater species such as native crayfish. 

Strzlecki Burrowing Crayfish, which are sadly endangered, spend their entire life cycle underground in tunnel systems, only coming to the surface during wet, overcast conditions and during the night. The waterways at Glendalough are also ideal habitat for other endangered species including the Australian Grayling, a slender fish that is sometimes known as the cucumber mullet or cucumber herring, for its cucumber-like odour. 

An unusual threatened species found at Glendalough is the Giant Gippsland Earthworm, referred to by Sir David Attenborough as “One of the rarest and most extraordinary of all Earthworms”. It’s the largest earthworm in the world, reaching 3 metres in length. It is rarely seen due to its underground life cycle but sometimes can be heard as it moves beneath the ground. Find out more about it here.  

Other species planted at Glendalough include Sweet Bursaria (Bursaria spinosa), a species that often forms part of the understorey of Eucalypt forests, and Prickly Tea-tree (Leptospermum continentale), another understorey species that can provide nectar to bees, insects, and wildlife. 

There is some remnant vegetation at Glendalough that our Revegetation Team estimates to be more than 100 years old. The reforestation work will extend this existing and provide even more potential habitat for the local wildlife.  

These existing trees have developed hollows and cavities over time that form as a result of weathering from lightening, wind, or even decay from termites or fungi. Hollows provide important habitat for hundreds of native Australian animals including the endangered Glossy Black Cockatoo, the Swift Parrot, and the Leadbeater Possum. In some instances, they can take hundreds of years to form highlighting the importance of legally protecting these forests into the future. 

The forest at Glendalough will also provide habitat for Southern Greater Gliders. Greater Gliders were recently reclassified to endangered in many states, including Victoria, due to the impacts of land clearing. Their current status makes the restoration of their habitat critical.