Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA), with the assistance of NSW Forestry Corporation, is holding two volunteer days in the Sunny Corner State Forest. 

The project calls for volunteers to assist with weeding invasive plant species and clearing their habitats of other harmful rubbish. 

As the purple copper butterfly is a rare species only found in the Central Tablelands, and is restricted to areas with an elevation above 900 metres, the maintenance work is crucial to their survival.

CVA regional manager Jolyon Briggs said people with a passion for wildlife and conservation will be best suited to this project.

“They’ve got to be interested in nature and the outdoors, reasonably fit and between the ages of seven and 80,” he said.

Conservation activities will be conducted on consecutive Fridays – February 19 and 26 – between 9am and 3pm at Big Hill in the Sunny Corner State Forest.

To help people reach the site, there will be pickups from Orange railway station at 8am and Bathurst railway station at 8.45am. 

Mr Briggs said anyone who would like to volunteer must register ahead of time. 

“There is a registration process,” he said. “They can either contact the office on 6334 4537 or they can visit the Conservation Volunteers to register.”

CVA is a not for profit organisation based in Australia. 

Last year, with the help of 325,000 hours of volunteer assistance, they helped to plant more than 400,000 trees, remove weeds from more than 100 hectares of land and cleaned up 120 tonnes of rubbish.

For more information, visit www.conservationvolunteers.com.au.