At the Winton Wetlands we are lucky enough to have a beautiful pair of White-bellied Sea-eagles that return here each year to one nest. These are incredible creatures, but unfortunately the species does face an uncertain future. They are currently listed nationally as a threatened species and, in fact, it’s estimated there are only 100 breeding pairs left in the whole of Victoria.

Our site is significant on a national scale and is critical for ongoing long term conservation of the White-bellied Sea-eagle. The site is a known breeding location and three Sea-eagle nests have been identified. There are an increasing number of visitors to this area each year, which is great, but it does increase the need for us to protect the area around this nest so that the birds continue to come back and breed here. Our ‘Save Our Sea-eagles (SOS)’ project is all about providing these very important residents with a protected area.

Winton Wetlands aims to permanently conserve this site by restricting human access within 1km of the nest. This conservation reserve will be approximately 1,000 hectares in size, where the birds will be able to nest without being disturbed. A key innovation will be the use of a remote access camera trained on the nesting site and this will be transmitted to our information centre at the Mokoan Hub. This will provide another way for people to understand a bit more about the Sea-eagles without disturbing the nesting birds.

So how can you help? What we need is for people to donate towards the creation of this protected area. And to make it even more appealing, all donations over a certain amount will receive special rewards. Some of these rewards are perfect for the family, while others will appeal to corporate groups, so why not get your colleagues together to team up and make a donation?

We love our Sea-eagles and want to see them thrive for many years to come. So please get involved and play a part in something really special.

We will be developing a range of ways that will protect these great raptors – signage, barriers, or fencing, to ensure a permanent isolated nesting location to support the successful breeding of the species. We are going to develop a visually stunning art installation which will form a sculptural barrier near the observation area to inform and delight visitors. We will share with visitors the importance of this program and will increase public awareness of this great bird through signage, information, and research projects, available to interested groups. Initial research will be undertaken to identify key elements of nesting behaviour and requirements to ensure our works do not affect the Sea-eagles or other flora and fauna.

The majority of the cost will be fencing to create this wilderness zone to ensure our Sea-eagles will be safe for many years to come. The great thing about our project is that your dollar will be matched dollar for dollar by the State Government as part of the Threatened Species Program, so please support us. We will spend our funds in the following way:

$7,000 for Signage and Interpretation. This includes a comprehensive engagement strategy with video footage and a webcam for remote monitoring.
$10,000 for a Sculptural barrier. This will be an attractive art installation near the observation area which will also be informative.
$30,000 for Fencing. Fencing is expensive but necessary to protect the nest and the surrounding habitat.
$3,000 for an Observation area. This will allow people to observe the nest site from a safe distance and location.
Project management will be provided "In-Kind" by Winton Wetlands. Our team will provide all the project planning and management necessary, ongoing maintenance, and continuous engagement of the community.

The total is $50,000.00 ($25,000 from Pozible funders and $25,000 from the State Government Threatened Species Program)

If we raise higher funds we have many other projects to protect the threatened species of Winton Wetlands and we will reveal these as the project goes on!

While there are some obstacles to the success of our project, we have been planning this project for a long time.

We have:
1. assembled a good team with all the skills we require;
2. assistance from bird experts (Ray Thomas and Andrew Hamilton);
3. a project management plan with contingencies; and
4. experience with wildlife and restoration projects.

We have delivered many projects previously and are ready with contingency plans in case we strike any obstacles!