Category Archives: Uncategorised

Orange conservationists are preparing for a long battle to protect Mt Canobolas from mountain biking. The Canobolas Conservation Alliance, until now a loose coalition of local environment groups, formally adopted a constitution and elected office bearers on Monday. Newly elected president, Dr Colin Bower, said the Alliance is committed to protecting the integrity and viabilityContinueContinue reading “PRESS RELEASE | Conservationists Gear Up for Fight to Save Mt Canobolas”

Environmentalists have told Orange City Council to “go back to the drawing board” over a proposal to turn Mount Canobolas into a “mountain biking mecca”. On Tuesday, Council floated spending $500,000 from the 2020-21 budget to prepare a development application to place 10 trails covering more than 60km on the mountain. Canobolas Conservation Alliance spokespersonContinueContinue reading “PRESS ARTICLE | Mount Canobolas mountain biking proposal rubbished by environmentalists”

Four rare greenhood orchids have been rediscovered on Mount Canobolas by members of the Orange Field Naturalist and Conservation Society.   After a hot and dry spring and summer, rains in autumn have spawned the Antelope Greenhood (Diplodium laxum), Scarlet Greenhood (Diplodium coccinum), Summer Greenhood (Diplodium decurvum) and Long-tongue Summer Greenhood (Diplodium aestivum) orchids. OrangeContinueContinue reading “PRESS ARTICLE | Four species of autumn greenhood orchids rediscovered on Mt Canobolas”

TWO years of work following the Mount Canobolas bushfire have lead to the discovery of 79 additional recorded species, from fungi to mammals.   National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Steve Woodhall said staff and volunteers from the Orange Field Naturalist and Conservation Society captured the results across several surveys after the 2018 fire burnedContinueContinue reading “MEDIA REPORT|National Parks, volunteers discover 79 species on Mount Canobolas”

Two new threatened orchid species, the Canobolas Leek Orchid (Paraprasophyllum canobolense) and the Pink Spider Orchid (Caladenia boweri), known only from Mt Canobolas, have been formally named by Australia’s foremost authority on orchids, David Jones. Although the existence of the two species has been known for many years, their official naming as new species inContinueContinue reading “PRESS RELEASE | New Rare Orchids on Mt Canobolas.”

National Biodiversity Month was a time to focus on our native flora and fauna, to acknowledge that world-wide, Australia’s reputation for protecting and conserving our unique biodiversity is not great.  We celebrated Wattle Day on September 1st and Threatened Species Day on September 7th, but this year September also saw a greater acknowledgement of climateContinueContinue reading “EARTH FIRST | September was National Biodiversity Month – Think Local”

Lichen experts examined the effect of the February 2018 bushfire on endangered lichen colonies, which were unique to Mount Canobolas, recently. The two Canberra-based scientists assessed any damage and gave maintenance advice to the National Parks and Wildlife Service for four lichen species that occur nowhere else in the world. Orange-based Dr Richard Medd invitedContinueContinue reading “PRESS ARTICLE | Experts explore impacts of bushfire to rare lichen colonies on Mount Canobolas”

Question: What is big, scary, comes out after dark and lives on Mount Canobolas? Answer: The Powerful Owl. In a rare sighting, the Powerful Owl, Australia’s largest owl species, was seen and photographed for the first time on Mt Canobolas during a recent wildlife survey. With a 1.4 metre wingspan, height up to 67 cmContinueContinue reading “PRESS RELEASE | Rare Powerful Owl Seen on Mt Canobolas”

I wish to express my absolute opposition to the proposal to establish a mountain bike track, or any similar activity, on Mount Canobolas for the following reasons; 1) It would totally long-term destroy the ambiance of this pristine native area of bushland, with many species of trees and plants unique to this area, at riskContinueContinue reading “LETTER TO THE EDITOR | ‘Please do not destroy this irreplaceable natural asset’”

The following press release (12 September 2019) announced the formation of a new alliance of conservationists to oppose a national mountain biking park on Mount Canobolas. Members of four Central West conservation groups have formed the Canobolas Conservation Alliance (CCA) to oppose the proposal for an international mountain biking competition centre in the Mt CanobolasContinueContinue reading “PRESS RELEASE | Canobolas Conservation Alliance Formed”