Beyond the nest box

Seven months after volunteers first moved into their Kroft's Shed workshop on Railway Street, Euroa, a project to rebuild habitat lost in the January bushfire has become less about nest boxes and more about people. Under the umbrella of the Bushfire Recovery Alliance (BRA), volunteers have been cutting, drilling, assembling, and painting nest boxes destined for wildlife corridors across the fire-affected landscape. They are well on the way top their target of 1000 boxes. "We're halfway," BRA volunteer Janet Hagen said. "We have tried to keep a count as there have been a lot of deliveries going out, but we have got a number somewhere." The project has drawn support from local businesses, schools, men's sheds and individual volunteers, with materials donated or provided at discounted prices. Volunteer Angela Berry, whose role includes machining and preparing the box components, said the community response had been remarkable. Some boxes have already been built and then donated by groups including Rushworth Field and Game and Tallygaroopna Men's Shed, while Euroa Men's Shed will soon begin assembling kits of its own. The project is also being taken into schools, with pre-cut kits allowing students and community groups to build boxes without specialised woodworking skills. BRA facilitator and conservationist Allison Trethowan said the boxes were being installed in carefully selected locations. "They're going out into spots that haven't been burnt or haven't been really badly burnt where there is a good corridor of vegetation and trees with a good, thick canopy," Ms Trethowan said. The canopy provides shade during summer and helps create suitable habitat for species displaced by the fires. In some cases, neighbouring property owners have worked together in the past to create continuous wildlife corridors across multiple boundaries. Property owners, schools, businesses, and volunteers have all become part of the recovery effort. The plywood is cut into flat-pack-style kits before being distributed for assembly. No Allen key is required. "It's too hard for a lot of people to manage full sheets of plywood," Ms Trethowan said. "So we cut them up into kits." That process has allowed hundreds of components to leave the workshop and be finished elsewhere. Yet while the project began as a wildlife recovery initiative, BRA members say it has revealed another aspect of recovery often overlooked after major disasters. Ms Berry said the organisation was now also exploring ways to support people's wellbeing following the fires. "We've got some funding for a grant to run some events that are about human recovery," she said. The activities will focus on community connection, mental health and creating opportunities for conversations between people who have experienced the fires in different ways. "A lot of people are grieving the loss of the landscape and that's not something people are used to being able to put words to," Ms Berry said. "It's a lot of ecological grief." She said many residents were struggling with changes to familiar places and environments they had lived with for years. "Sometimes just those chats with other people who are in a similar situation is what someone needs," she said. One box at a time, the volunteers are helping rebuild homes for native species and helping people reconnect at the same time.