The Booroolong frog was once deemed safe and secure, but in the past four decades the population of the endangered species has dropped below 5,000 across Australia.
The native species was once a common sighting along the Great Dividing Range between Victoria and Queensland, but now only isolated pockets in the Southern and Central Tablelands of New South Wales remain.
Local Land Services senior officer Katie McPherson said without changes to how farmers managed creeks and streams, the species would not survive.
"We are trying to look after them in terms of land management practices that need to vastly improve to help them out," she said.
"Farmers are critical because they are the ones who are going to be looking after the entire catchment, and without their contribution the Booroolong will go extinct."
Protecting rivers
For more than a decade, Shane Cooper has been repairing the waterways on his property near Oberon.
This has involved the removal of introduced species such as willow trees and blackberries.
"There is a lot more open creek now, there are no more willows, and the frogs have somewhere to live," Mr Cooper said.
The removal of willows combined with the recent floods has been highly beneficial for the Booroolong in the area.
"Their root mat collects silt and dirt which covers the rocks and chokes up the creek. That is the habitat for the frog," Mr Cooper said.
"The floods removed a lot of the topsoil that had been collected and that has exposed the rocks. It has made their home available to them again."
Ms McPherson said limiting livestock access to waterways was another crucial aspect of protecting the frog.
"Livestock have the ability to destroy Booroolong habitat by going down there … wrecking the soil profile and turning over those rocks," she said.
Ms McPherson said by fencing off river systems, the "water quality of your riparian areas" would significantly improve, benefiting native species.
Bringing the Booroolong back
While small in size, frogs like the Booroolong play a vital role in protecting the ecosystem by eating pest species and being a food source for other wildlife such as birds and reptiles.
Ms McPherson said after the Booroolong population was further decimated during the drought, the recent floods had shown positive signs for the species.
"During the drought times they were really hard to find because there wasn't much standing water available for them to live and breed in," she said.
"We got some good numbers late last year and hopefully this year will be another good year after the floods."
For Mr Cooper it has been a rewarding result for the work he has put into restoring the landscape.
"We would like to care for the land that we own and leave it in a better shape than when we started," he said.
"For the frogs that are endangered, there is now a habitat for them to live in."
