What is the GER Stepping Stones Project

The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative (GER) is connecting people and nature along the east coast of Australia stretching 3,600km from the Grampians in Victoria to far north Queensland. The Hunter Valley is a critical gap in the ranges.

The Stepping Stones project seeks to strengthen connectivity enabling species movement across the Hunter Valley which is a critical pinching point in the overall Great Eastern Ranges corridor.  There are 4,350 isolated patches of bushland on private lands in the Hunter Valley and the project seeks to reconnect these patches of bushland to the backbone of the Great Eastern Ranges by creating a series of “Stepping Stones” on private lands.  The project will increase ecosystem resilience to climate change and development threats by strengthening connections between key habitat patches.

Through Stepping Stones there is support available for on ground works (weed control, bush regeneration, tree planting and fencing) and project and property planning.