Our philosophy at A Taste of Paradise is to always be thinking in positive ways about the future of our land and many of you will know we have one fifth of our land locked away in perpetuity in a conservation agreement. We also have a great relationship with Illawarra Landcare through Richard Scarborough and Megan Rowlatt, and through the Illawarra Woodland and Rainforest Project. Part of the work that we do in this area is to build nesting boxes for our local native birds (Eastern and Crimson Rosellas), Sugar Gliders and microbats and we have been able to construct an additional series of boxes through special funding provided by a Private Land Conservation Grant from the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife.
The boxes are cleverly designed and the young people we mentor participate in the construction and monitoring processes, learning about translating a design accurately into the built product. This gives them construction and power-tool skills and the chance to contribute to a project that will improve our local bio-diversity. We have planted over ten thousand native trees on our property and many are too young to provide natural nesting sites so these boxes are invaluable in increasing the numbers of local wildlife.
Through our partnership with Illawarra Landcare we have also established a Rainforest Arboretum providing future training opportunities in Horticulture with our referred young people. The Arboretum doubles as an outdoor shaded classroom.
We have also partnered with the Great Eastern Ranges Conservation Initiative running from North Queensland right through to Southern Australia.
