Projects
1 Fish and Water Quality Monitoring
The permanent spring-fed pools in the Park are home to an endemic fish – the Flinders Ranges Mogurnda (Mogurnda clivicola). We monitor the water quality and the fish population characteristics. This effort has informed the translocation in 2021 of 600 fish to water holes to the south of the Park in an attempt to establish insurance populations. Go to the monitoring page for more details.
2 Revegetation of the Balcanoona Headquarters surroundings
Balcanoona is the headquarters of the Park and the rangers live there. Also on site is the Park office, The old homestead, the new homestead, the rejuvenated shearing shed and the shearer’s quarters. The Friends have been revegetating the surroundings with indigenous seedling plants grown from seed collected from the local area. Go to the revegetation page for more details.
3 The commonly seen birds of the Park
The Park is a haven for birds with the appearance of many dependent of the recent weather and rainfall. Members of the Friends are keen birders and have been recording the birds from all over the Park. A brochure is being prepared to assist Park visitors to identify for themselves the birds that they see. Go to the Bird brochure page for more details.
4 Wildlife monitoring with Remote Cameras
Remote or “trail” cameras are attached to a tree or other structure and take a series of photographs when triggered. A trigger occurs when something of a different temperature from that of the surroundings enters the field of view. This could be a mammal, a bird or even an insect. And sometimes the trigger is waving vegetation that has grown up in view of the camera. The result is thousands of images recorded on the SD card. The Friends view and score these images to get an appreciation of the numbers and change in numbers of (for example) Yellow-Footed Rock Wallabies. Go to the wildlife monitoring page for more details.
5 Geology of the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park
Adnyamathanha is the name of the traditional custodians of the Park and it means “rock people”. The rocky geological formations and the steep rock faces of the gorges within the Park are of considerable interest to geologists. The Friends have several members who are keen geologists and rock students. They are in planning for the preparation of a publication that describes the rock formations within the Park. Go to the geology page for more details.
6 Flowers and plants of the Vulkathunha-Gammon Ranges National Park
Despite being in an arid zone, there are a vast array of plants – both flowering and non-flowering – in Vulkathunha. The Friends are preparing a booklet with photographs of these flowers and plants to help visitors to the Park identify these plants. Go to the flower identification page for more details
7 Directional Marker at summit of ridge-top walk
A walking trail from the Balcanoona Headquarters towards the west and then ascending northwards along an easily navigated ridge and ending at a lookout point is being developed. Go to the toposcope page for more details
View of Balcanoona from near where the Directional Marker will be built
8 Refurbishment of the Oocaboolina Outstation
When Balcanoona was a working sheep station, Oocaboolina served as accommodation for the pastoral workers. This historical building, when abandoned, fell into disrepair. The Friends have been working to secure the building and to refurbish the interior rooms. This project has now been completed. Go to the refurbishment page for a summary.
