Noosa Biosphere supports moves to raise funds and awareness about the Eumundi Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre as it moves towards a more sustainable model to ensure its future.  The centre has been run by Gill and Col Brownhill with volunteer assistance for the past 14 years but as Col is now in full-time care the centre is now planning to employ a caretaker and need to build their operational funding base.  

Gill has pledged to continue to work there until they ‘carry her out in a box’ but understands that there is probably no other volunteer who will be able to put in the 18 hours a day, 7 days a week that she currently dedicates to the role.  She will work with the future caretaker and team of volunteers to continue operating the amazing service they provide.

Why their service is special is that they have the room to house different species of birds in different avaries and space on the 10 acre property to rehabilitate animals that backyard wildlife carers do not.  Currently their operational costs are around thirty thousand dollars per year raised through council grants, Eumundi organisational funds and public donations.  They need to increase this funding substantially to be able to pay for future wages and maintenance.

Whilst the centre isn’t within the current biosphere boundaries, apparently around 70% of the animals brought in come from within the old Noosa Shire boundaries.  Noosa Biosphere Chair Sue Davis and Sector Board member Jemma Darlington attended the meeting on January 23 and offered to work with the centre and the community in whatever ways we could.  In particular we are looking at possible crowd sourcing and crowd funding campaigns and how to utilise online tools to fundraise.

To help the Eumundi Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre raise necessary fundse we encourage you to become a member for a small fee of $25 per annum.  Please find an attached membership form here, along with details of how to deposit the fee directly into their bank account.