What better way to mark World Environment Day than to get involved in a local conservation project offering big hope to the survival of small squirrel gliders in Glenrock State Conservation Area.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Bush Regeneration and Volunteer Officer, Boyd Carney, is calling on volunteers to join a community planting day on Saturday 4 June to provide shelter and winter food for this distinctively stripy species.
"We are lucky that these bushy-tailed and much-loved gliders call Glenrock State Conservation Area home, and we are asking for the community's help to care for and improve their habitat," Mr Carney said.
"Winter is typically a pretty cold and lean time for this species so we want to do all we can to plant suitable food sources such as the nectar-producing coastal banksias and mahogany seedings.
"Over the past 4 years, volunteers helped plant close to 3,000 food and shelter trees, now we need help to plant 2,000 more.
"These trees will also eventually form hollows, another vital element to this species survival as they depend on tree hollows for breeding and raising young.
"As well as planting, volunteers can help with removing weeds and replacing any of the trees that have been lost since the initial planting.
"What we do in the Reserve today will have a long and direct impact on this species into the future," Mr Boyd said.
The Community Planting Day will take place on Saturday 3 June in Glenrock State Conservation Area, at the Newcastle Earthquake Tip site and Seismic Mountain Bike Trail, Gun Club Road.
Volunteers can register for the morning session (9–11 am) or the afternoon session (12–2 pm).
