Staff from Wagga Wagga City Council's Environment & Sustainability team have been auditing the 150-plus nest boxes across Council-owned and managed sites around Wagga Wagga, providing habitat for our arboreal mammals.
It is part of a regular program of nest box checks, designed to gather and monitor data of target species within the Wagga Wagga Local Government Area (LGA).
Environmental Coordinator Samantha Pascall said in 2020, Council adopted its Biodiversity Strategy: Maldhangilanha 2020-2030, and from that, developed an Arboreal Mammal Management Plan.
"The plan includes a list of actions aiming to protect and enhance the habitat of our arboreal mammal species, which use trees to forage, sleep and move throughout the landscape," Ms Pascall said.
"As a way of increasing habitat, Council has installed a number of nest boxes in targeted areas to support hollow-dependent fauna like Squirrel Gliders, which are endangered in our LGA.
"These nest boxes provide shelter for the threatened species where hollow-bearing trees are lost due to land clearing – it can take 100 or more years for a tree to produce a hollow.
"We are pleased to see the data from these audits is showing the occupancy rate is higher than what has been shown in studies, which demonstrates the need for and the effectiveness of the nest box project."
The audit program also involves assessing the nest boxes themselves to see if they need to be replaced due to damage or deteriorating condition, or exchanged for a different type or size for the fauna that inhabits a particular location.
Over the past 18 months, the Environment & Sustainability team has been working with Council's Geospatial team to develop an app to assist with monitoring and mapping our nest boxes.
Natural Resource Management Officer Catherine Conroy, Cadet Environmental Officer Matilda Kaylock, and Spatial Analyst Kayley Greaves-Maher recently put the technology to the test during one of the audits.
"We knew we wanted a platform that we could easily interact with and would enable us to keep a better track of the data and photos that we collect during the audits," Ms Kaylock said.
"When we find other nest boxes that aren't on existing documents or plans that we know of, we can also add that to the data and monitor sightings of fauna as well from events such as community spotlight nights.
"The data is key to how we can help support our vulnerable and endangered species by helping to ensure that the location and quality of the nest boxes align with where the target species are and identify areas which might need more nest boxes."
Council has received some outside support for the program, with students at The Riverina Anglican College making 55 Squirrel Glider boxes in December 2025 as part of their Service Week, which will be installed as part of the nest box replacement project.
