As most readers will know, Yass Gorge is a beautiful ecological and recreational asset located in the heart of Yass.
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And as we have previously reported, the ever-improving condition of the Gorge is largely thanks to the hard work of local volunteers over 30 years - right up to the present time.
We take our hats off to the Friends of Yass Gorge for their tireless dedication!
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What some readers may not be aware of is just how precious Yass Gorge is in terms of its ecological significance at a state and national level.
With National Threatened Species Day commemorated on September 7, it is a good time to remind ourselves what we have on our doorstep, and how important it is to protect our natural environment.
Tragically, over the past 200 years more than 100 plant and animal species have become extinct in Australia. In NSW alone, around 1,000 plant and animal species are currently at risk of the same fate.
The grassland at Yass Gorge is a remnant of the critically endangered natural temperate grassland of the south eastern highlands, once widespread on the Yass Plain.
And the particular grassland at Yass Gorge is especially rare, home to species such as tick indigo and yellow burr-daisy.
A number of threatened bird species have been observed at Yass Gorge, including diamond firetail, little eagle, superb parrot, flame robin, scarlet robin, speckled warbler and dusky woodswallow.
The critically endangered golden sun moth has been seen at Yass Gorge, and there is likely habitat for the threatened striped legless lizard and pink-tailed worm-lizard.
The grassland earless dragon and little whip snake could also be present.
Two threatened fish species have been found near the Gorge, and may be present in the gorge itself - these are the trout (blue) cod, and the Macquarie perch.
We like to feature Yass Gorge in these articles on biodiversity because it is somewhere we can also visit and direct our energies to do something positive in our own local area.
A prime example is the six day weeding effort that took place at Yass Gorge in April this year.
It was followed by a community planting of river red gums and carex (a riparian sedge species) on Friday, September 4.
These events were made possible with 'Threatened Ecological Community' funding from Local Land Services, a grant won by the happy partnership of Friends of Yass Gorge and Yass Area Network of Landcare Groups.
For more information on the Yass Gorge you can check out our website for more in-depth documents: yan.org.au/resources/yass-gorge.
And please get in touch if you would like to get involved: coordinator@yan.org.au
