The renewed commitment builds on the successful reintroduction of locally extinct mammals to Sturt National Park.
The NSW Government has extended its long-standing partnership with UNSW Sydney’s Wild Deserts program for another decade, backing continued efforts to return locally extinct mammals and restore desert ecosystems in Sturt National Park.
The partnership has already helped return six native marsupial species to the park after more than a century of local extinction, creating one of Australia’s most ambitious desert restoration programs. Reintroduced species include the greater bilby, crest-tailed mulgara, Shark Bay bandicoot, golden bandicoot, burrowing bettong and western quoll.
The return of these species is helping to rebuild biodiversity, restore ecological processes and strengthen the resilience of desert ecosystems. Several populations are now breeding successfully in areas protected from feral cats and foxes.
UNSW Scientia Professor and Leader of the Wild Deserts Project Richard Kingsford said, “This is a realisation of the tremendous progress we have made over the last decade in restoring the desert ecosystem in Sturt National Park by marsupial species that were wiped out by cats and foxes more than a hundred years ago. There is so much more to be done.
“Our focus on science linked to adaptive management is producing new learnings which improve the effectiveness of our management and apply not only to the Wild Deserts site in Sturt National Park but are useful across NSW and nationally.
“The great strength of our success has come from our deep partnerships, with Ecological Horizons, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Taronga Conservation Society, but also neighbouring landholders and volunteers.”
The return of locally extinct mammals to Sturt National Park shows what is possible when scientific expertise is combined with long-term commitment and strong partnerships.
UNSW Dean of Science Professor Sven Rogge said, “I congratulate Professor Richard Kingsford and the Wild Deserts team on securing this important partnership extension and on the remarkable conservation outcomes they have achieved to date.
“Wild Deserts is an example of how UNSW Science works together with researchers, government agencies and conservation partners to tackle complex challenges and deliver lasting environmental impact at scale.”
“The return of locally extinct mammals to Sturt National Park shows what is possible when scientific expertise is combined with long-term commitment and strong partnerships.”
Restoring desert ecosystems at scale
The Wild Deserts program was designed not only to bring back species that had disappeared from the region, but to restore entire desert ecosystems.
Deserts cover around 70% of the Australian continent and have been heavily affected by introduced predators and herbivores since European settlement. Feral cats and foxes have contributed to widespread native mammal declines, while rabbits, goats and pigs have degraded habitat and ecosystem health. As native species disappeared, key ecological functions such as soil turnover, seed dispersal and nutrient cycling were disrupted.
Restoring these ecosystems is a complex challenge. Species must be sourced and reintroduced, while threats such as feral predation persist across vast and remote landscapes.
The Wild Deserts program is helping address these challenges and generating knowledge that can inform threatened species recovery across Australia.
Returning wildlife to NSW national parks
The NSW Government has also extended its partnerships with the Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) for a further 10 years, supporting the next decade of threatened species recovery across NSW national parks.
The renewed partnerships with AWC and UNSW Sydney will continue conservation work at three major feral predator-free areas: Mallee Cliffs National Park and Pilliga State Conservation Area, managed with AWC, and Sturt National Park.
These sites form part of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service’s (NPWS) network of 10 feral predator-free areas across the state, including seven managed directly by NPWS. Together, the network is helping reduce the risk of extinction for 33 locally extinct species and supporting the recovery of a further 45 threatened species.
NSW Minister for the Environment Penny Sharpe said, “We’re bringing native species back from the brink. Bilbies, numbats and Shark Bay bandicoots are back where they had disappeared from and they’re thriving.
“The next ten years of these partnerships is not just about what happens inside fenced areas, it’s about improving our knowledge of what contributes to successful reintroductions, so we can drive recovery of threatened species and tackle our extinction crisis.”
The partnerships have already helped return locally extinct mammals to NSW national parks, including the greater bilby, bridled nail-tail wallaby, numbat, western quoll and Shark Bay bandicoot. Across the three sites, 13 threatened mammal species have been reintroduced, including nine at Mallee Cliffs National Park, five at Pilliga State Conservation Area and six at Sturt National Park.
Feral predator-free areas are a key component of the NPWS Threatened Species Framework and the NSW Government’s commitment to achieving zero extinctions in national parks.
