The Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater (FOHH) and Wildlife Carers for Protection of Habitat joined together to continue the revegetation efforts along the important Liwik Barring Conservation Area (LCA) in September.
The new habitat was planted for Victoria’s special faunal emblems, the Helmeted Honeyeater and the Lowland Leadbeater’s Possum, in Yellingbo as part of the 2025 Birrarung Riverfest.
FOHH president Sue Bendel said the attendees had a great time as they joined together for a good cause.
“The people who joined these events… were delighted to be able to join together with like minded people and plant future habitat for such important threatened species,” Ms Bendel said.
On 9 and 21 September, just under 40 people planted 500 plants at the Burrungma Biik (Misty Lands) to help transform it from pasture grass to a new home for the two critically endangered species.
The events were so well received that attendees requested for the event to be run again in 2026.
The planting efforts would have a tangible impact as new Helmeted Honeyeater populations would move in quickly.
“Helmeted Honeyeaters had been discovered nesting in an adjacent revegetated farm paddock just four years after planting, so the revegetation project is definitely a worthwhile project.”
The Liwik Barring LCA is a series of conservation areas connected by rivers and creeks which spans from the top of the Yarra Ranges down into the Dandenong Ranges.
Within the Liwik Barring LCA is the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Area, which is the only location on the planet where both helmeted honeyeater and lowland Leadbeater’s possum populations coexist.
The conservation area is 3000 hectares in size and it aims to conserve the Crown land along waterways, enhance its unique biodiversity, water quality and provide more recreational opportunities.
The name Liwik Barring, which means Ancestors’ trail, was chosen by Traditional Owners, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation to reflect the First Peoples history and connection to the land and waterways.
The two planting days began with a representative of the Yarra River Keeper Association welcoming the participants to Riverfest and explaining the significance of the Birrarung.
“They were then shown a special taxidermy specimen of a Helmeted Honeyeater, who was affectionately known as Supermum, due to the large number of fledglings she successfully raised.”
The plants themselves were sourced from the FOHH Yellingbo Indigenous Nursery and funded by a grant from the Field Naturalist Club.
After the plants were planted, Ms Bendel said the children took part in some arts and crafts activities to end the day.
“When the plants were in the ground, the forestry tubes were collected and delighted children gathered the extra tubes together to create a large pot snake.
“The exhausted, but very happy children took home some helmeted honeyeater inspired craft activities as a memory of the day.”
