Farms for Wildlife takes flight: first nest boxes installed at Nashua pilot property

Barn owl by Wildbnb

Farms for Wildlife is officially up and running, with the first nest boxes and hunting roosts installed on a participating farm at Nashua in the Northern Rivers.

After inviting local landholders to join the pilot earlier this year, it’s exciting to see the project taking shape on the ground. A morning spent installing the first boxes and roosts marks an important step forward, with monitoring equipment also in place and ready to record the first signs of activity.

Developed by Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital, Farms for Wildlife explores how supporting native predators, including barn owls, kestrels and boobooks, can contribute to natural rodent management. Through nest boxes and habitat restoration, the pilot aims to support biodiversity and productive farms while reducing reliance on rodenticides that can harm wildlife.

A generous contribution from Wildbnb

This first installation has been made possible with the support of Wildbnb, which generously donated the nest boxes and hunting roosts for the Nashua property.

Wildbnb also brings expertise in nest box design, installation and long-term monitoring to the partnership, helping the team establish a pilot grounded in practical conservation and careful observation.

We’re grateful for their generosity, knowledge and hands-on contribution to getting Farms for Wildlife underway. We also thank our participating landholder for welcoming the project onto their property and helping turn an idea into action.

Now, we watch and learn

With the first installations complete and monitoring equipment ready to go, the next chapter will unfold over time.

We’ll be watching for wildlife activity and gathering observations to understand how the installations are being used. There are no results to share just yet, but that makes this stage especially exciting: the groundwork is in place, and we’re waiting to see who arrives.

These first boxes mark the beginning of a pilot we look forward to sharing with our community as it develops. From installation to the first recorded visitors, every update will help tell the story of Farms for Wildlife.

Read how the project began in our earlier Farms for Wildlife blog, and follow along as we share the first monitoring updates.

If you would like to support our Farms for Wildlife project, please donate here. Every gift will help turn Farms for Wildlife from an idea into action.

Your support could help fund nesting boxes, monitoring cameras, solar equipment, installation and the ongoing monitoring needed to understand what's working.

And importantly, this isn't about helping wildlife at the expense of farmers.
It's about finding solutions that can work for both.