By KATH GANNAWAY
A $175,000 State Government grant will fund a co-ordinator for the Helmeted Honeyeater Recovery Program for the next five years.
The grant has been welcomed by Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater (FOHH) and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), which manages the feeding program for the critically endangered birds at the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve.
The feeding program has been crucial in allowing the birds to fight back from near-extinction and is a major reason for the recent upswing in numbers, which are currently in excess of 150 and represent the biggest known population in decades.
Announcing the grant, Environment Minister Lisa Neville commended the friends group and DELWP senior ornithologist Bruce Quinn, who manages the program.
Deputy Premier and Monbulk MP James Merlino also spoke of the feeding program and his experience of seeing the benefits first hand.
“Without the ongoing volunteer efforts from organisations like Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater, I may not have been fortunate enough to have been with this species today, just six weeks after the heart-warming scene of 18 youngsters being released into the wild,” he said.
Friends group president Bob Anderson said they had over 80 volunteers, but needed to recruit more and train them, and to now had not had a person specifically for that program.
“We will get a person for five years who has a particular interest in this project.
“They will be employed by the friends group, paid for by DELWP and supervised by Bruce, so it’s a very welcome next step.”
