Adding around 16,500 square metres of newly developed habitat for the Growling Grass Frog, Major Road Projects Victoria is set to soon complete this important environmental work to create frog ponds along Healesville-Kooweerup road.
The frog ponds can hold 15 megalitres of aquatic habitat for the region’s frog population, providing a much-needed boost to the endangered species.
Our work on the Healesville-Kooweerup Road Upgrade is bringing safety to the forefront for all – even including the local faunae,” Major Road Projects Victoria Program Director Marc Peterson said.
“We’ve nearly completed the 11 frog ponds that will provide habitat for the threatened Growling Grass Frog and when coupled with bandicoot shelters and fauna-sensitive culvert crossings, it highlights our commitment to wildlife in the region.”
With two ponds north of Deep Creek and nine further ponds around the Hall and Ellett road and further south, the team has ensured there are plenty of newly developed spaces for local aquatic wildlife to thrive.
All frog ponds are planted with native species that thrive in aquatic conditions. Habitat creation for the Growling Grass Frog features 11 frog ponds across the entirety of the project.
The project has also created and is improving existing Southern Brown Bandicoot habitats, including revegetation with Southern Brown Bandicoot-friendly plantings around underpass and culvert entrances and other areas to improve habitat connectivity.
MRPV and its construction partners, McConnell Dowell and Seymour Whyte, teamed up with Cardinia Men’s Shed Pakenham and Kooweerup Men’s Shed to build bandicoot shelters to provide even more safe space for them to thrive.
The project has also built more than 35 underpasses and fauna crossings so Southern Brown Bandicoots, Growling Grass Frogs and other wildlife in the area can safely cross the road and disperse their populations throughout the region.
These projects are part of MRPV’s obligations to protect the environment including detailed environmental assessments, mitigation strategies and management plans in place to protect native species and the ecological environment.
Works on the project’s final layer of asphalt continue in earnest as crews get the road ready for the completion of major works in August.
