‘It doesn’t need to be one or the other’: balancing brolgas and windfarms in Victoria

Victorian brolga numbers have shrunk due to habitat loss and drying wetlands. Now conservationists are calling for careful planning of windfarms

• Sign up for the Rural Network email newsletter
• Join the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the community

The vast, windy plains of Neville Oddie’s property in Chepstowe offer a lesson in biodiversity. One by one, the fourth-generation Pyrenees farmer lifts the rippled roofing tiles scattered across the grasslands, revealing little whip snakes and lizards. But the jewel in the crown of this privately owned farmland is a population of brolgas.

The tall waterbirds are listed as a threatened species in Victoria. According to Birdlife Australia, the 2024 flock count sat at just over 800. Numbers in northern Australia are significantly higher.

Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter