Two years on from the Black Summer, bushfire recovery funding is allowing us to survey for threatened species on Brogo Reserve for the first time.
On New Year’s Eve 2019, the fast-moving Badja bushfire came within kilometres of Brogo Reserve, Yuin country in the Bega Valley of New South Wales. A sudden wind change saved Brogo and its neighbours, but the surrounding region was decimated; the fire burnt through over 315,000 hectares, destroying 422 homes and much habitat.
In the weeks and months that followed, we expect that Brogo became a refuge for birds and other animals that managed to escape the flames.
First purchased in 1995, Brogo was one of Bush Heritage’s earliest mainland acquisitions.
At 120 hectares, it is a small but significant reserve, protecting what is likely the largest remaining patch of the Brogo Wet Vine Forest threatened ecological community in existence.
With steep slopes, dry ridgelines, deep gullies, large granite outcrops, pockets of temperate rainforest and even a couple of hundred metres of frontage onto the Brogo River, many diverse habitat types are found here making the reserve capable of supporting a huge variety of species.
However, while comprehensive surveys had been carried out on Brogo in the past, none have been undertaken in recent years. Now, thanks to bushfire recovery funding from the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, we’re taking a closer look at Brogo’s inhabitants.
This Spring, Brogo Reserve Project Officer Josh Wellington was joined by local contract ecologists Sam Patmore and Vanessa Place to conduct fauna surveys on Brogo with a focus on identifying threatened species.