Albury Conservation Company

The Albury Conservation Company (ACC) was established in 2006 with the following mission:

“to help protect and enhance the natural environment of the Thurgoona area, as well as to inform and educate the community of these values and engage the community in conservation management”.

ACC is a not-for-profit organisation which was set-up to manage and invest a $500,000 grant from the NSW Road Traffic Authority (RTA) in biodiversity protection in Thurgoona, to help offset impacts relating to the Hume Freeway Bypass through Albury, particularly the loss and fragmentation of Squirrel Glider habitat.

Use of the funds is in accordance with the Albury Conservation Company Strategic Plan (2011-16), the Thurgoona Threatened Species Conservation Strategy, and a number of other key documents. ACC aims to not only enhance the viability of Squirrel Gliders in Thurgoona, but also to help conserve other threatened species such as Sloane’s Froglet and many woodland birds.

Since 2006, the ACC has:

– Commissioned a 2 year Squirrel Glider population viability analysis in Thurgoona and the Albury Ranges, undertaken by the Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology (ARCUE) and completed in 2009.

– Co-funded Dr Alexandra Knight’s (Charles Sturt University) PhD on Sloane’s Froglet, which found that Thurgoona was one of the  few sites in the world where the frog naturally occurred. Since this study was conducted a Sloane’s Froglet Working Group was established with the aim of conserving the species locally.

– Delivered a ‘Community Grants Program‘ in 2012/13 that supported threatened species research, on-ground conservation works, and biodiversity education in the Thurgoona/Wirlinga region. Projects included mapping of hollow-bearing trees and installation of 60 Squirrel Glider nest boxes at Thurgoona Country Club Resort.

– Co-hosted the Thurgoona Bioblitz 2012, a two day event involving expert-led community wildlife surveys around Thurgoona.

– Delivered a Squirrel Glider Urban Nest Box Project in 2015, involving construction and installation of 100 nest boxes in potential Glider habitat at properties in Thurgoona, Splitters Creek and Table Top. The project was delivered in partnership with Thurgoona Mens Shed and Parklands Albury Wodonga, with funding from the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative (GER).

– In 2015 we commenced a hollow-bearing tree mapping project in Thurgoona/Wirlinga, via a two-year funding agreement with the NSW Environmental Trust (Education stream). To date, over 450 hollow-bearing trees have been mapped on roadsides, Bell’s TSR, roadsides, Thurgoona Country Club Resort, Charles Sturt University, and Albury Environmental Lands.

– In 2016, in partnership with NSW Department of Primary Industries (Lands), we have commissioned Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology (ARCUE) to develop a Squirrel Glider Monitoring Plan for Thurgoona/ Wirlinga. This plan will lay the foundation for long-term monitoring of this threatened species in a landscape that will undergo significant change over the next 2-3 decades as Albury expands to the north.

Albury Conservation Company is also one of the nine working group partners of Slopes to Summit (S2S), the local partnership of the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative.

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