Sustainability Street
Institute Inc.
228 Kerr Street
Fitzroy VIC 3065
+61 3 9416 4293
+61 3 9417 2859
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biodiversity
Hot Tips!
• Visit the web sites section for information and details on what biodiversity is. In short it is the interconnectivity, interdependence and variety of life on earth.
• Unless we guard wilderness, half of all species on earth could be lost this century.
• Reducing waste, water and energy around the home has direct impact on biodiversity.
Mulch the garden and save a mountain stream
Turn down the heater and stop global warming pushing the pygmy possum habitat further up the mountain with the snow line.
By less ‘stuff’ and reduce unneeded energy use, resource exploitation and landfill space.
Creating Habitat
• Plant local native trees, shrubs and grasses to attract local native plants, birds and animals. Plant them in the natural layers that they occur in the bush.
• Place nest boxes in your trees for local native birds and possums. Check them regularly and remove introduced species and bees
• Explore the wildlife in your backyard. This will help understand the complex habitats that support endangered and other species
• Dead trees and hollow logs are very important habitat areas for local animals
• Own a holiday home somewhere? Learn about the local native plants and animals there too and do you bit to encourage them.
• Look over the fence: a bit of land beside a road, between houses, along a creek and behind a beach can be home to an endangered bird or lizard.
• Buy land where you can have a positive impact on biodiversity. Is the land on an estate that removed habitat? Buy it and replant it!
• Reducing, removing and controlling litter enables plants to grow back
• Join “Sustainable Gardens Australia” for the best local native gardening advice (www.sgaonline.org.au/user.php)
• Have a chemical free garden: if you encourage birds, frogs and a variety of local native trees, shrubs and grasses, you will not need any chemicals anyway, because you’ll have your own native ecosystem that takes care of the bad bugs naturally!
• Buy timber from plantations or second hand timber. Avoid timber from old growth forests.
• Snakes and native spiders play their part in local ecosystems. They should be left alone.
Community Efforts!
• ‘Adopt a park’ with your local community and encourage and protect wildlife
• Your street could become a local native planted street: habitat for local wildlife and plants and a local biodiversity hub!
• Ever thought about having an edible street? Fruits, nuts and other delicious edibles planted along your street?
• Join a local tree planting group or community garden. If there isn’t one: start your own!
• Start a joint effort to clean up and deter dog poo in your surrounding streets. This will help to reduce water pollution
• Protect your open spaces: roadsides, railway easements, nature strips, small parks, and other open spaces.
Endangered Animals
• Find out what animals are endangered near where you live (call your local parks office, environment group or Council to find out). What can you do to help?
• Sponsor and endangered animal. Contact your local environment group, zoo, or parks office for information
• Learn about an extinct animal. Understanding how these animals became extinct helps us to know what to do to help animals survive. Remember that extinct is forever …
• Never buy things made from endangered animals such as ivory or rhinoceros horn, or some Chinese medicines
• Join a wildlife survey of an endangered bird!
• Urge your government representatives to support programs for the protection of endangered species and habitats
• Care for injured wildlife you come across.
Introduced species
• An introduced plant species in your garden can quickly find it’s way into our National Parks through birds and waterways, where they spread as terrible weeds.
• There are guides to weeds and introduced species of plants. Some are ‘noxious’ weeds and are illegal to plant! Contact your Council, local environment group, library or check out the websites section for details.
• Rabbits, foxes, buffalo, cane toads, feral cats and dogs, fire ants a whole host of birds and more animals have been introduced to Australia with devastating effects on local wildlife. These introduced species either eat native wildlife or displace them from their habitats.
• Cats (and to a lesser extent, dogs) are native wildlife killers and do not belong in Australia. They are also cute cuddly pets and great companions. Some tips top control them:
Never dump them! Call the RSPCA or have them put down. Fish are also in this category.
Give them their shots: diseases such as toxoplasmosis and mage are spread by domestic animals to native wildlife, which had little resistance to them.
Always leash you dog if you take it near the bush.
Put a huge bell on your cat’s collar so they can hear it coming
Take you pet to the vet to have it neutered
Keep you cat inside at night.
Avoid feeding stray cats
Visiting Parks
• Get out of the city whenever you can! Nature is wonderful. Try your local park!
• Before holidaying or visiting parks, find out about the local wildlife so that your visit can be positive for the wildlife!
• Be careful where you drive the car or motorbike. They can do great damage eroding tracks, breaking up plants and ground cover and disturbing animals
• When visiting parks, be extremely careful to follow fire restrictions and carry out cigarette butts.
• Do you fish? Throw back small native fish and take all baits, nets, sinkers and hooks away with you!
• Is there a major mining or construction project near you? Most of these projects require and environmental impacts statement to be prepared before going ahead. You can contribute to this process.
• Drive slowly at dawn and dusk when many native animals are out and about
• Take only photographs, leave only footprints.
The Sustainability St project has been building better relationships with each other and building a much better relationship with the natural world are the greatest challenges of human history - Sustainability Street ... a new reason to be neighbours.
Sustainability Street Approach 
