Our team recently returned from leading a two-week Bush Blitz to Barrington Tops, NSW, surveying the native biodiversity on the Traditional Country of the Biripi, Worimi, Guringai, Geawegal and Wonnarua peoples.

Located around 350 kilometres north of Sydney in New South Wales, Barrington Tops is a remarkable landscape within the Great Dividing Range. The region is recognised for its World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforests, extensive temperate rainforest systems, subalpine woodlands, montane wetlands and exceptional biodiversity.

The Barrington Tops Bush Blitz brought together more than 40 participants. Local Gimbigu Aboriginal Rangers, Australian Museum staff and fellow researchers from the University of NSW, the South Australian Museum, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory and La Trobe University worked together to enrich our understanding of the biological diversity living in the Barrington Tops region. The team was also joined by staff from BHP, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Forestry Corporation of NSW who assisted with site access and helped the scientific team set pitfall traps, acoustic cameras and hand collect invertebrates.

Hundreds of specimens were collected, including insects, spiders, snails, reptiles, frogs and mammals. Scientists will spend the next few months identifying them, and a list of species recorded on the Bush Blitz will be included in a summary report that will be available on our website around mid 2027.

Watch the scientists in action on the Australian Museum and Bush Blitz social media accounts, or read more about what species were uncovered on the Barrington Tops Bush Blitz on the Australian Museum blog: https://australian.museum/blog/amri-news/blitzing-biodiversity-at-barrington-tops/

 

Photo: The Barrington Tops Bush Blitz team with the local Gimbigu Rangers (credit: Bryan Lessard, Bush Blitz).