A three-year initiative will create the largest Carnaby's restoration corridor in Western Australian history, combining habitat restoration, Indigenous ranger training, and community action.
The three-year Corridors for Carnaby's (C4C) project will plant 200,000 Banksia trees in southwest Western Australia, providing critical feeding habitat for the endangered birds. Without intervention, the species native to Western Australia, faces extinction. More than half of its population has been lost in 45 years, as habitat and primary woodland food sources were cleared for farming and urban development.
Professor Kingsley Dixon AO, a world-leading conservationist and Project Delivery Lead of Corridors for Carnaby’s said: "I remember as a kid when the sky went black with Carnaby’s Cockatoos and I knew that Christmas was around the corner and I was filled with joy. We don't have that anymore. This is a turning point, it's mission-critical, planet-critical, if we can't get the Carnaby's right, then we won’t get much else right. This is a story of hope, and the community is right behind us wanting to help.”
Creating the largest restoration corridor in WA history
The new Banksia tree corridor will stretch across 10 kilometres of land near Mandurah, a coastal city south of Perth. Planting, which begins now, will be complete by 2029.
With their nutritious seeds, Banksia trees are a lifeline for Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos, flowering at key times of the year when the birds need energy to breed and raise their chicks. Adult birds use their huge beaks to crack open the woody cones and eat the seeds inside. The trees will provide critical habitat and vegetation between the land and sea, with plentiful food, water, and nesting sites for the birds.
Beyond the trees, the corridor will include 50 artificial nests and 20 self-cleaning, solar-powered water stations. Partner organisation Five Rivers Catchment Council has also arranged for nearby farms to provide dedicated water stations for the cockatoos.
From seed collection to career pathways
Amazon's funding will help support a collaboration between UWA's School of Biology and the Winjan Aboriginal Corporation's Aboriginal Rangers Program. The 18-month program combines traditional ecological knowledge with contemporary restoration science, equipping Indigenous participants with commercial seed bank management skills and accredited “micro-credentials” that create certified pathways to degrees and may open up careers in agriculture, horticulture, and environmental restoration.
Turning backyards and schoolyards into lifelines
Corridors for Carnaby’s will also mobilise the community to turn private gardens into oases of food for Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos. Two thousand fast growing nut trees will be distributed to Perth residents to be planted in urban areas to sustain Carnaby’s while native species mature in the restoration corridors.
The project will engage 12 Perth schools over three years to plant over 2,000 Banksia and other trees, developing ‘pocket forests’ that provide food and nesting hollows—while fostering children's interest in science, nature, and conservation.
AI-powered conservation
Amazon Web Services is supporting the project by developing AI-enabled flock identification technology for Carnaby's Cockatoos. An app, currently in development, will also enable West Australians to participate in flock identification and population censuses from their own backyards.
A personal connection
"I share a deep affection for Carnaby's Black Cockatoos," said Michael Miller, spokesperson for Amazon’s Right Now Climate Fund. When we built our Perth Fulfilment Centre, we chose this striking bird as a local endangered species to support – and our foyer features a giant Black Cockatoo mural, painted by local artist Jarni McGuire. In front of this mural we begin our three-year journey with The University of Western Australia, the Winjan mob, partner organistions and local communities, schools and families to stop this species from facing extinction."
This marks Amazon's second Australian project funded through its Right Now Climate Fund, a $100 million initiative supporting climate resilience and nature conservation in communities around the world. Amazon also invested AU$2.5 million to protect critically endangered Australian wildlife from extinction, including the largest-ever reintroduction of eastern barred bandicoots in onto Phillip Island.
For more information on the C4C project, or to become involved go to: www.corridorsforcarnabys.com.
