An informative display of the Monaro grassland earless dragon at the Cooma Visitor Centre was opened for National Biodiversity Month (across September) and Threatened Species Day on Monday 7 September.

Threatened Species Day marks the anniversary of the death of the last known Tasmanian tiger (thylacine) at the Hobart Zoo on September 7, 1936.

The "Dragons and Gold" display at Cooma Visitor Centre has come together as a collaborative process, drawing together knowledge, photos and creativity from Upper Snowy Landcare staff and volunteers along with the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Change and Water's (DEECCW) Saving our Species program project officers, Monica Knipler and Melanie Sim, Local Land Services staff members as well those who contributed to the community collage project - including more than 100 youth - displayed during the Dalgety Show earlier this year.

The annual National Threatened Species Day falls within Australia's broader National Biodiversity Month which promotes the importance of connecting with nature and caring for nature in all its diversity. National Wattle Day on 1 September and World Rivers Day on the fourth Sunday in September are other key dates and activities celebrated throughout the month.

The Monaro grassland earless dragon (Tympanocryptis osbornei) is found in the endangered ecological community of natural temperate grasslands which are home to a variety of unique flora and fauna, many of which are threatened due to factors including land clearing and feral species.

In launching the display at the Cooma Visitor Centre, Melanie Sim, said she is proud of the care Ngarigo people have shown for this land for thousands of years.

"I have so much respect for the care Elders and their families have given this land in the past, the care they give now and the work that they will carry out in the future. It's a really amazing legacy...my colleagues at Saving Our Species, we try to follow in their footsteps as do my Landcare and LLS colleagues."

She also spoke about the local agencies, community groups and schools which have been involved with the promotion and awareness campaign of the threatened Monaro grassland earless dragon over recent years.

Upper Snowy Landcare Network (USLN), in partnership with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, have been rolling out a local schools program aimed at educating students about the Monaro grassland earless dragon.

"I have spent my whole childhood in Cooma, my connection to this place runs deep, and yet I had no idea there was a Monaro grassland earless dragon even though I grew up on a bush block," Melanie said.

"When I started working for Saving Our Species I thought of me, as a local kid, who didn't know about this dragon and probably lots of other kids back then didn't know about it either," Melanie said.

Through teaming up with local agencies, she said there are now more than 460 local children and their families who know about the dragon.

"I really thank Maggie from Upper Snowy Landcare as without her, we actually couldn't have done this," Melanie said.

USLN co-ordinator, Magdalene Lemcke, said connecting students with the animals and plants which make up ecosystems builds a deeper sense of belonging to, and caring for the region's native grasslands.

The launch concluded with the cutting of a Threatened Species bake off cake, a nationwide competition where participants bake a dessert or cake shaped like an Australian threatened species. The goal of threatened Species Day and the bake off is to start important conversations about conservation, and the more than 2100 vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered species in Australia.

An earless dragon pin/hat badge can be purchased at the visitor centre during September to support conservation initiatives by the Grassland Earless Dragon Alliance.