Koo Wee Rup Secondary College students have been working with the Gippsland Line Upgrade team to help protect endangered bandicoots.
The project team visited the school to task 20 students in Year 10 with building nesting boxes for the Southern Brown Bandicoot.
A population of the native marsupial has been identified along the Gippsland Line between Pakenham and Longwarry, where upgrade works are taking place.
The Southern Brown Bandicoot is listed as an endangered species in Victoria under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 Threatened List 2022.
The nesting boxes have been supplied flat-packed by sustainability experts Eco Logical Australia. They are custom designed to suit the bandicoots, which usually use logs to nest on the ground in dense cover.
Where there are gaps in suitable habitat for Southern Brown Bandicoots, nesting boxes can provide areas for them to nest safely away from predators such as foxes and feral cats.
The Gippsland Line Upgrade is undertaking a program to protect the bandicoots by monitoring their population size and locations. The program is also monitoring and managing pests, particularly foxes and feral cats, to reduce the threat to the Southern Brown Bandicoot population.
The boxes will be installed along the Gippsland Line between Nar Nar Goon and Longwarry.
Find out more about the Gippsland Line Upgrade.