About Us

Habitat Stepping Stones is a non-profit initiative, developed at Macquarie University, that helps you find beautiful food, water and shelter elements to add to your backyard or balcony to create a habitat stepping stone for local wildlife.

It's easy for you to make a real difference to your local wildlife!

Just pledge online to add 3 or more habitat options to your place, and we'll send you this colourful plaque for your front fence! In the FOOD, WATER and SHELTER sections below, we showcase many habitat options, including birdbaths, nest boxes and specific plants that are beneficial to wildlife by providing nectar, seeds, shelter or nesting materials. We make sure the plant selection includes plants of varying heights, to promote habitat diversity, and also a range of flowering/fruiting/seeding times, to maximise biodiversity outcomes.

See Angus Stewart from ABC TV’s Gardening Australia talking about the Habitat Stepping Stones program in the 2-min video below.

Friends

Recognition

2017 Showcased: In the IUCN's #NatureForAll list of international Success Stories.

2016 Invited as a partner: In the IUCN's #NatureForAll global movement 

2016 Finalist: Blue Star Sustainability Award for Habitat & Wildlife Guardianship

2015 Winner: National Trust Heritage Award for Conservation of Natural Landscape     

2015 Finalist: UN World Environment Day Award for Sustainability Education

Research

Research into the effectiveness of the program has shown that:

• So far, participants have pledged to add over 7,500 habitat elements to their gardens
• 75% of surveyed participants reported a greater awareness of the importance of habitat for local wildlife.
• 98% are likely to continue adding habitat elements to their gardens in future.

The Habitat Stepping Stones program was designed and developed by the Australian Research Institute for Environment and Sustainability at Macquarie University.