Conservation organisation Aussie Ark is installing 1000 nesting boxes to save gliders from feral cats and foxes with New England expansion planned

Conservation not-for-profit organisation, Aussie Ark, has made a home for multiple species on its 400 hectare property in Barrington Tops.

They have now begun building nesting boxes specifically for greater gliders and sugar gliders, whose populations were devastatingly affected by the 2019 and 2020 black summer bushfires.

Curator for Aussie Ark Kelly Davis said they had focused efforts on obtaining additional land to help expand their operations.

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"Plans moving forward are to keep doing the same thing, fence the area in and remove those feral pests," she said.

Ms Davis said their first step beyond Barrington would be towards Walcha, to set up more protective fencing in Curricabark.

Because barbed wire fencing on farms and other properties can cause serious injury to gliders, Ms Davis said they're looking to install specially designed fencing as they expand.

"We use a fine mesh. We've got an umbrella kind of curve over the top to keep climbing cats out," she said.

Before the fencing was installed by Aussie Ark, the gliders were at the mercy of particularly, feral cats.

This has been due to clearing of the surrounding area, which means there aren't enough trees for the gliders to glide between.

Being without the safety of the trees, the gliders had no place to hide from the feral cats.

Ms Davis said glider numbers have been in decline since records began, however Aussie Ark's installation of nesting boxes means they have begun to recover.

"There's been so much historical logging of our old-growth forests, and that removes a lot of those hollows," she said.

"We've set up 100 nest boxes in our sanctuary already, and that's the initial stages of what we hope to be 1000 nest boxes."

Ms Davis said each one of the boxes costs $150, so she has called for locals to take advantage of tax time by making a donation which they can then claim back.

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