‘Beyond Yellingbo’ has won the Australian Wildlife Society Community Wildlife Conservation Award 2025.
The Australian Wildlife Society, founded in 1909 in NSW, is one of Australia’s oldest national wildlife conservation organizations, and this is the first time a Victorian project has won the Community Wildlife Conservation Award.
Beyond Yellingbo emerged in 2017 as a collaborative response to the need for extended habitat for the Helmeted Honeyeater. Friends of the Helmeted Honeyeater invited the neighbours – Johns Hill Landcare Group, Monbulk Landcare and Macclesfield Landcare – to join an initiative focussing on strengthening habitat connectivity on private land surrounding the reserve.
Since its inception, the Beyond Yellingbo project has engaged the owners of more than 120 private properties, and coordinated restoration across over 300 hectares of priority habitat.
