A second group of international student volunteers has arrived in the Wimmera and already made a difference for threatened species.

Department of Sustainability and Environment biodiversity officer Pauline Rudolph said the students adapted quickly to the wet weather and had been busy near the Little Desert and in and around Stawell and Halls Gap.

“The students, all from the USA, have coped very well coming from their summer into our winter,” she said.

“We have had a few days of rain so far, but they are pretty tough and worked through the showers.

“They got down to business very quickly in the Little Desert area, making cages to protect flowering orchids, weeding Elegant spider-orchid habitat, and installing fences to protect future Metallic Sun-orchid re-introductions from rabbits and macropod grazing.

“Along with protection works, the students also surveyed private properties and roadsides for new populations of Hairy-pod wattles and Forked spyridiums and planted native grasses to improve the quality of Golden sun-moth habitat.”

Ms Rudolph said the students were spending their second week in and around Stawell and Halls Gap practising their survey skills and learning how to set up remote cameras.

She said the students were visiting Australia during their summer break to tackle biodiversity conservation works through the International Student Volunteer program.

“This group, like others before them, have enjoyed working in environments where kangaroos, wallabies and echidna diggings are all part of the norm,” Ms Rudolph said.

“Not only will they undertake works, help raise public awareness and create new advocates for local biodiversity support, they will also reward communities and volunteers by providing much-needed assistance for the works they undertake.”